


That Night: An Ada Wong and Leon S. Kennedy Story

by BGShepard



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: F/M, Femdom, Light Bondage, Romance, S&M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 02:13:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2411207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BGShepard/pseuds/BGShepard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“By the way, when are we going to… carry on from where we left off that night?” - Ada Wong – RE: Damnation</p>
<p>The year is 2007. Leon S. Kennedy is on a trip to Paris, France with Vice President Adam Benford when word reaches them that Ada Wong has been spotted in the City of Lights. With security on full alert, no one is sure of her intentions. Alone in his hotel room, Leon will soon discover in intimate detail exactly what it is the international spy has come here looking for. It is a night that will change the nature of their relationship forever as Ada puts Leon to the test on how far he is willing to go to have the woman he truly wants; a journey of passion and soul-searching that will push him past not only his physical limits, but his emotional ones as well.</p>
<p>But even as dawn breaks and a new day begins, both Leon and Ada will discover that “that night” will have a lasting impact on their lives in the days and months following in ways they could not possibly imagine. For once started, a fire is not so easily put out. And both will be confronted with a simple question – how far is each willing to go for the other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Night (Part 1)

_“When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you._  
 _When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you._  
 _When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you._  
 _Now that I love you, I am afraid to lose you.” – Anonymous_  
   
 

   
 **Park Hyatt Paris – Vendome**  
 **Paris, France**  
 **October 21st 2007**  
 **22:45 CET**  
  
  
    **_TOP SECRET – OFFICIAL EYES ONLY – TO BE VIEWED ONLY BY THE VICE PRESIDENT AND SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE_**  
  
    Leon S. Kennedy took a somber look at the briefing folder sitting on the desk of his hotel room.  Since he had begun working directly for Vice President Adam Benford, he had been given some of the highest levels of security clearance now that he was Special Agent in Charge with the D.S.O.  All of this had been courtesy of President Alexander Graham after he had successfully rescued the President’s daughter Ashley from the Los Illuminados cult group.  
  
    It was hard to believe that only three years ago he had been a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the new president’s family.  Who would have guessed that his first task would have been a rescue mission?  He’d been dispatched to a remote corner of the Spanish countryside in an effort to find the President’s daughter who’d been abducted.  Once he had arrived however, he had found more than he had bargained for.  The entire area had been placed under the control of Osmund Sadler – the leader of the terrorist cult.  Somehow the man and his underling Ramon Salazar had managed to unleash an ancient bio-weapon to which Leon himself had become infected by.  If it hadn’t been for the help of Luis Sera, he and Ashley would have both turned into one of the many Ganados whom were puppets to Sadler’s will.  
  
    Leon leaned back in the desk chair and closed his eyes while letting out a deep sigh.  Taking a moment, he began to rub the stiffness from his neck.  He was tired from the long day of briefings that he had been a part of.  It was one of the many hassles of his job that went hand in hand with the benefits – such as enjoying the luxurious accommodations he and the VP had been set up in at the expense of the American tax payer.  Today however, had been something different.  The Vice President’s protection detail had been placed on high alert after word had reached them of a potential assassination risk on Adam Benford’s life.  Opening his eyes, he again glanced down at the unopened folder lying on the desk before him.  
  
    Thinking back on his time in Spain, he reflected that Luis hadn’t been the only one to help him during his mission there.   ** _She_** had also provided her own assistance as well – assistance that always seemed to come with some sort of hidden price tag.  In the months following his successful rescue mission, he’d thought of her constantly even after she had put a gun to his head and had him hand over the Master Plaga sample.  Initially he’d been angry with her, but for some reason his anger would always give way to a hidden longing for the Asian beauty.  Even though she had begun detonating hidden charges placed on Sadler’s island, she **_had_** given him the keys to a jet ski to escape with Ashley before its destruction.  Always coming across as a manipulative, self-serving woman in everything that she did, for some reason she always seemed to look out for him in the end.  
  
    “Why?”  He surprised himself by asking the question out loud.  
  
    Pursing his lips together, Leon leaned forward and finally forced himself to open the folder.  Her face was the first thing that greeted him.  It was an 8 X 10 photo of the spy wearing sunglasses and a red button down shirt with black leather pants – a striking compliment to the woman’s beauty and style.   _How in the world did Secret Service manage to take her picture?_  She was always so careful in everything that she did, however something seemed off by the ease in which this photo had been taken.  He held it up and stared, silently admiring the beauty of the woman in the picture.  Lingering over her curves for a moment longer, he set it down and picked up the briefing document that accompanied it.  
  
    **NAME:**  Ada Wong  
    **DOB:**  March 24th  1974  
    **AGE:**  33  
    **ETHNICITY:**  Asian  
    **NATIONALITY:**  American  
    **EMPLOYER:**  Unknown  
    **LAST SEEN:** Charles de Gaulle International Airport – Paris, France  10/20/2007  
    **THREAT LEVEL:**  RED  
  
    There was a large description of her background under the basic facts.  Much of it he already knew since he had an intimate understanding of the woman.  The two of them had worked together in the past – a fact he had kept hidden from his employers.  Even in his reports of the Raccoon City outbreak as well as his time in Spain he had made a concerted effort to omit her involvement in either affair.  Still, he knew full well who she was.  Ada Wong was a spy, an assassin, skilled in espionage… and a woman who had succeeded in leaving her mark on him.  
  
    _God, that smile she had…_  Grinning to himself, he reflected on how much time he had spent thinking of her since Raccoon City.  When she had died in his arms, he had felt his heart break at her loss.  But later as he fought against the Tyrant outside of the train to escape the city, she had shown up and thrown him an RPG to kill the beast.  Then she had disappeared.  He told himself that he should have felt joy over the fact that she was still alive, but instead he had felt anger.  After what the two of them had been through together fighting against Umbrella’s monsters, why hadn’t she contacted him?    
  
    Then she had shown up in Spain while he saw to rescuing Ashley Graham.  At first he had been guarded when she had revealed herself to him – she had been working with Albert Wesker after all.  Deep down however, he had been elated – elated that he had been able to see the Asian spy once again.  
  
    Leon was pulled from his thoughts when he felt the dull ache in his left shoulder – a testament to the bullet he had taken for her back in Raccoon.  For the most part, it didn’t bother him much, but every now and again it would flare up at the change in the weather.  Setting down the bio sheet, he began to massage the aching muscle with the fingers of his right hand.  Closing his eyes once more, he sighed.  
  
    _Ada_ , he thought to himself, _what are you doing in Paris?_  
  
    Tonight, Adam Benford was having dinner with the French Prime Minister, and his entire protection detail had gone with him.  Given the fact that Ada had been spotted in Paris, the Secret Service was having kittens making sure security was air tight.  To stay out of their way and have a little quiet time for himself, Leon had volunteered to stay behind at the hotel in order to gather more information on the Asian spy as well as trying to determine what her intentions were for her visit here.  
  
    He sat there for a long moment until he felt a light breeze blowing against the back of his neck.  Turning his head, he realized that a window was open.   _What in the world?  Why is that…?_  Reaching for his gun, Leon stood and pointed it in front of him as he cautiously made his way toward the window.  All of the lights in his room were out save for the desk lamp, and the light switch was by the door.   _Damn it!_  
  
    Checking the surrounding area, he saw nothing out of the ordinary so he pushed down on the frame and closed it.  As he stood back up however, he had a feeling that he wasn’t alone.  Pivoting quickly, he turned around and aimed his gun at the opposite side of his room.  He saw something – there in the corner beside a bookshelf.  It looked like the silhouette of a person standing motionless in the shadows.  As he slowly approached, a bigger surprise came when the mysterious figure spoke to him.  
  
    “It’s been a long time, Leon.”  
  
    Leon froze in his tracks.  He knew that voice.  It was one he was not likely to forget – a voice that had already caused his skin to goose-prickle at the seductive tone it held.  “Ada…?”  He asked in surprise.  
  
    Her outline slowly began walking in his direction, and in the faint light of the lamp he could see her.  She was wearing a beautiful tight-fitting red dress that was cut low to her abdomen showing off not only her cleavage, but also holding the gentle curves of her hips.  A large slit ran up her elegant right leg to where he could see its perfect shape – toned and flawless.  In her right hand she held a bottle of champagne and in her left were two glasses.  There were no words spoken as she slowly approached him; her hips swaying in a provocative manner as the impish smile on her face seemed to grow with every step.  
  
    Leon lowered the Beretta but kept it in his hands as he took a step backwards.  He was unsure of what her intentions were, but given the way she was dressed and what she was holding, it didn’t appear that she was here for an assassination.  
  
    “Ada, what are you doing here?”  He took another step back, still surprised that she was here.  
  
    The vixen in front of him remained silent as she continued her approach.  When she reached the desk however, she slowly turned to set down the bottle and glasses.  
  
    “Your safety’s still on you know.”  Her ruby lips were smiling at him.  
  
    Turning to face him, she began to walk in his direction once more.  Somehow he had known that he’d left the safety on.  For some reason he couldn’t explain, he didn’t feel the need to pull back the hammer on the Beretta either.  She wasn’t here for blood – that much he could already sense.  He felt himself bump against the table behind him and his retreat stopped.  Ada was approaching him and there was no place left for him to go.  
  
    “What are you doing here?”  He asked again as he felt his mouth go dry.  She stopped and stood directly in front of him.  Looking down, he couldn’t help but notice the tops of her breasts peeking out from the dress that she wore.  
  
    Her arms slowly encircled his neck.  “Shhh…” she whispered as she gently pulled his head toward hers.  
  
    The wet smoothness of her lips soon pressed against his and just as quickly, Leon felt his mind go numb.  What was she doing?  The two of them hadn’t shared a kiss since Raccoon City.  And this wasn’t a casual welcoming kiss either – it was one that held meaning… and want.  Even as inexperienced as he was with the opposite sex, all of the signals she was giving him led him to the conclusion that this visit was for something more.  Despite the fact that she was on the VP’s threat list, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to stop her from kissing him.  Her lips were so warm… so inviting…  
  
    With great effort, Leon managed to pull away.  “Ada… don’t you realize that you’re on the radar of both the D.S.O. and the Secret Service?  Why in the world would you show up here?”  
  
    “Leon,” she said seductively, “I’m not in the City of Love to kill the Vice President.  I’m here… for another reason.”  
  
    “Such as…?”  He asked.  When he saw her eyebrows arch upwards, his eyes widened at the realization of what she had meant.  His collar and neckline began to grow warm.  “Ada... we… we can’t… I…”  He was beginning to stammer like a green school boy.  
  
    A smile greeted his response as she slowly moved her face toward his.  He soon felt the warm wet smoothness of her tongue as it glided across the tip of his nose.  “We can… and we will,” she whispered softly.  “I know that you want me, Leon… just like I want you.  I’m here because you and I… we have unfinished business together.”  
  
    One of her hands had begun to move down the length of his arm until it rested on top of his right hand that contained the Beretta.  Slowly pushing it toward the table, his hand reached the surface, and he reflexively let it fall from his grip.  Her other hand ran down his chest until it reached the crotch of his pants.  Once there, she gently squeezed his manhood that had already begun to harden when she had first kissed him.  
  
    Letting out a gasp, Leon closed his eyes and remained still.  At that moment, it felt like the safest thing to do as the Asian beauty continued to rub her hand over him.  Despite his charming good looks, he had always been awkward around women.  Growing up and moving through high school, he’d never been a looker.  He hadn’t even kissed a girl nor had a steady girlfriend in those days.  As he matured however, that had begun to change.  The women were attracted to him in droves, but still the awkwardness remained.  Now the woman he’d been dreaming about for the past nine years was here and making a move on him, and he was hesitating.  Why?  Was it because of his job… or because he was genuinely apprehensive around her?  
  
    “Mmmm…” she purred.  “I’d ask if you missed me, Leon, but I already have my answer don’t I?”  She then asked, “Did you get my message?”  
  
    He opened his eyes and looked at her.  The mischievous smile she was wearing was beyond tempting.  “Message?”  He asked.  
  
    Ada’s lips came close once more as she gently kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear.  “At the airport – when I let those fine government agents take my picture.”  
  
    She had set that up?  Why would she willingly put the Vice President’s detail on alert?    
  
    “Why, Ada?  Why did you put yourself in that position?  That doesn’t sound like your style.”  
  
    “Your boss’ Secret Service detail was put on high alert, right?”  Her lips pressed against the corner of his mouth.  
  
    “Yes…” he replied cautiously, unsure of how much information he should be sharing with her.  
  
    “I’m sure he feels so much safer now that his entire detail is with him for that meeting with the French Prime Minister.  And now that all of his agents are with him… that leaves you all by your lonesome.”  
  
      ** _That_** was the reason why she had let them know she was here.  To lure the rest of the detail away so she could get to him alone.  “That’s a hell of a risk to take just to see me.”  
  
    “Shhhh…” she whispered again.  “That’s for me to decide, handsome, and I happen to think you’re worth it.”  
  
    His heart was pounding hard against his chest.  Everything about her held an air of sensuality.  Her dress, her movements, her voice – was that from her own actions alone, or was his growing desire for her enhancing them to a dangerous level?  She was an enemy of the United States and the government he had sworn to protect.  Now they were alone together… and she was **_seducing_** him.  
  
    _What am I doing?_  He thought to himself.   _I should stop this and arrest her right now._  But looking into her eyes, he saw the quiet beauty of her smile which only served to enhance the almost angelic complexion she had been graced with.  Why was it so hard for him to fight off his emotional attachment for her?   _She’s a spy… a killer – Why am I hesitating!?_  But then his mind wandered back to Raccoon City, and the kiss that the two of them had shared.  Ada Wong had stirred something within him that fateful day; something he had tried hard to bury – the painful desire for a dangerous woman.  
  
    The glossy wetness of her lips pressed against his own once again.  Involuntarily, he surprised himself by kissing her in return.  For the first time since he had seen her, he felt himself relent as he gently rested his hands against the silky curves of her hips.  As much as he tried to fight it, the soft fabric of the dress only seemed to inflame him even more.  Quickly, his mouth parted from her lips, and he went to her neck.  Taking in a deep breath, he savored the scent of her perfume.  Above his ear, he could hear her let out a gasp as his lips touched her skin.  The fingers of her right hand soon began to weave themselves into the strands of his long bangs.  
  
    “Leon…!”  
  
    Her whispered moan of his name was an invitation for him to push onwards.  He continued to gently kiss the soft length of her neck as his left hand found her hair.  His cock was so hard that he felt it would burst through the seams of his slacks.  Why in the world was he doing this?  He began to question himself until he soon wondered why he was even fighting it.  Ada always seemed to put his mind into conflict with itself.  Deep down he knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he also knew that he couldn’t resist her either.  She was here, and she wanted **_him._**  That fact alone was driving him crazy.  
  
    Her hands grabbed his head and pulled him toward her.  Soon he felt her lips press against his once more – a feeling he silently prayed would never end.  Moving her hands down his neck, she rested them on the collar of his dress shirt and began to undo the top button.  He had almost stopped her until he felt her warm tongue enter his mouth.  Their kiss then grew more passionate until she had undone every last button on his shirt, and her hands began caressing his muscular abs.  
  
    All of a sudden, he felt her pull away.  His face involuntarily moved forward in an effort to seek her out, but she wasn’t there.  Opening his eyes, Leon saw her standing at the edge of the queen-sized bed with a devilish smile on her face.  Then she slowly turned around, showing him her back.  Reaching behind her with both hands, she took the laces of her dress at the small of her back and began to untie them.  Once the last was loosened, she then reached up behind her neck and untied the bow that held her dress over her shoulders.  She turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye as if to make sure she held his gaze.  As she released the fabric from her fingers, the dress gently fell down the length of her body and formed a silky puddle at the base of her black stiletto heels.  She was wearing nothing now save for the lacy black panties that barely covered the beautiful form of her backside and the dagger heels on her feet.  Leon felt himself swallow hard as he looked at her – unable to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing.  
  
    Turning her head once more, she looked at him over her shoulder as a smile formed on her lips.  “Leon,” she said softly, “your shirt… Take it off.  Now!”  
  
    Her voice had changed from lust-filled to commanding in just a few short words.  It had been so sudden that it had caught him by surprise.  Tearing his eyes from her curves, Leon looked up into her eyes.  They were piercing his as if she was staring into his very soul and offering a silent challenge.  He had no idea what it would entail or require of him, but without any further questions he soon began to remove his shirt.  
  
    Her eyes sparkled with delight as she watched him set it on the back of a chair.  When he looked back at her, she stood with a hand on her hip smiling at him.  She had already turned around giving him an unobstructed view of her incredible body.  Her breasts were round and supple and fit her lovely frame perfectly.  The dark nipples of each seemed to be pointing in his direction.  Involuntarily, he felt his jaw drop.  
  
    “My God…” he whispered as he gazed at her.  She was absolutely beautiful – more beautiful than anyone or anything he had ever seen in his entire life.  
  
    With a come hither look in her eyes and an inviting smile, she extended her hands towards him.  Her fingers beckoned him to come to her.  As if in some type of trance, Leon felt himself take a step forward and then another.  Before he could fully realize what he was doing, he was already standing before her.  Without thinking, he reached out to touch her.  Quickly however, her hands seized his wrists, and she held them with a firm grasp.  
  
    “No touching,” Ada whispered to him.  “At least not yet.  Right now I want you to stand perfectly still with your arms at your sides.”  With that, she slowly pushed his hands back against his pants.  “Will you do that for me, Mr. Kennedy?”  
  
    The tone in her voice was playful – as if this was merely a game to her.  But as Leon looked into her almond-colored eyes, he saw something else there as well.  There was a seriousness to the way she was looking at him.  It was as if she was expecting him to do as she had bid him, and if he didn’t – there would be repercussions.  He’d never let a woman control him in the bedroom before, but with Ada – something… something about it all felt different.  He wanted her so much, and because of that fact he decided he would play her game.  
  
    “Yes,” he responded.  Holding his hands against his pant legs, he looked back and watched her smile grow with his answer.  
  
    Ada slowly walked toward his left side as she took her left hand and traced her manicured fingers across his abs.  As she began to circle him, her hand ran up and over his chest and across his arm.  He soon felt her fingers trace across his shoulder blades and down the small of his back.  Leon then nearly jumped in surprise when he felt her hand grab his left butt cheek tightly.  
  
    “You have a nice ass yourself, Mr. Kennedy,” she cooed.  “I noticed that you were looking at mine.  Did you like what you saw?”  
  
    His answer came quickly but with a nervous twitch.  “Y… Yes.”  
  
    “I’m sure you did,” she replied seductively as she remained behind him.  “I think I’ll have to find a way for you to properly admire it later, but right now I want to know more about you.”  
  
    Confusion took hold of him as the subject change once again caught him off guard.  “What do you mean, Ada?”  
  
    “I want you to tell me a story – an intimate story about what made Leon Scott Kennedy into the man he has become.”  He then felt her nails trail softly over his shoulders.  
  
    “Where… where would you like me to start?”  He asked nervously.  
  
    He could feel her warm breath on the center of his shoulders.  The softness of her breasts pressed against his back, and soon her lips began to kiss him gently.  “Are you nervous, Leon?”  
  
    What could he say?  Everything about what she was doing was making him both excited and nervous at the same time – two conflicting emotions that she was stirring inside of him.  Instead of attempting to act like a macho asshole, he went with his gut and simply answered with the truth.  
  
    “A little bit, yes.”  
  
    He then felt the warmth of her hands as they gently caressed his shoulders.  Her lips went to the back of his neck and again he felt her breath on his skin.  “You are such an honest man, Leon.  I admire that so much about you – a simple purity that is hard to find in most men.  It was well that you didn’t lie to me – I would have known.”  The kissing continued until he felt her lips nibble his right ear.  “Let’s try this.  Turn around and look at me.”  
  
    Leon let out a deep breath to try and calm his beating heart and then slowly turned toward the gorgeous Asian woman.  However, as soon as he faced her, she quickly placed her hands on his chest and shoved him backwards.  Unbalanced, his legs ran into the side of the bed, and he ended up falling backwards on top of the sheets.  Looking at her with confusion in his eyes, all he could see was her smile as she approached the bed.  One of her knees came up onto the mattress followed by the other.  She was now straddling his legs as she looked at him with her mischievous smile.  
  
    “Have you ever read another person’s body before, Leon?”  She asked.  “You’d be surprised how much you can learn about a man… or a woman simply by looking at them.  Their shape, their size, how they take care of themselves… all of it gives you an indication of what type of person they are.”  
  
    He didn’t respond.  Somehow he knew that Ada was asking a rhetorical question.  She wasn’t looking for him to answer her – she just wanted him to know what she was about to do.  Her eyes had already run down his body toward his abdomen.  They lingered over his physical form… along with the many scars that ran across it.  He’d received so many of them from Raccoon City all the way to Spain.  For some unexplained reason his body had been immune to the T-Virus during the outbreak in 1998.  After the dozens of tests performed by the government once he and Sherry Birkin had been rescued, it had been determined that his immunity was a one in a million chance – like hitting the genetic lottery.  However, despite the fact that he couldn’t become infected, it hadn’t stopped the zombies or the other horrid creatures from trying to kill him.  As he watched Ada gaze upon his body, he could see her eyes begin to show an unexpected sympathy and admiration for all that he had been through.  
  
    “You have so many scars…” she whispered.  Slowly she ran the tip of her index finger across the length of one that ran across his lower abs.  He had received that one from a “Licker” that had ambushed him in the Raccoon Police Department.  He could still recall how the damn thing had almost sliced him in two if he hadn’t turned at the last second.  “…they are a testament to the fact that you don’t sit idle when danger is near.  When there are innocent people in trouble, you run to their aid even at your own peril.”  
  
    Leaning down, she placed her lips against the scar and kissed it.  Leon could feel the bulge in his pants become even more uncomfortable given how close her head and naked breasts were to his crotch.  Instead of thinking about his desire to have himself inside of her, he silently watched as she continued up his body.  Her eyes continued to look over the various wounds that had mended over the course of the years as her fingers trailed over them.  She then came to one that cut across his belly from an axe at the hands of a Ganado.  
  
    “You are a man who is both noble and just.  You believe in helping others and will fight viciously to defend those who can’t defend themselves,” Ada continued.   “While you don’t actively seek battle, you don’t shy away when the fight comes to you or those you care about.  Only when you have no choice do you take the life of another.  Nobility, honor, and friendship are the virtues that drive you, Leon Kennedy.  You are truly a man with no peers – no equals.  There are few in this world who have that same level of fortitude.  While the world seeks to crush men of lesser morals, you don’t let it define who you are.”  
  
    He listened to her voice and watched her movements as she again kissed another scar across his right kidney area… then another as she slowly continued up his body.  It was as if she was reading him like the many fortune tellers who read palms and attempted to peddle their services to gullible fools.  But with Ada, there was something about the way she was looking at him.  There was true admiration and awe in her voice as she spoke of his deeds.  It was as if she could truly understand and read each bruise, scar, and broken bone – that she could touch each one and their story would speak to her.  She would have already known many of these basic facts about him from their time together, but some of her knowledge appeared to run deeper – much deeper than anything she could find out from a dossier on him.  Maybe she had acquired an innate ability to read people?  In her line of work, it had probably become a necessity in order to protect herself from the dangers that she had to deal with.  
  
    Ada’s lips continued their kisses as she moved further up his body.  After kissing his left breast, she was about to continue on when he saw her freeze.  Her eyes widened as something caught her attention, and a look of surprise soon appeared on her beautiful face.  She didn’t move nor did she speak – she simply stared in silent fascination.  Breaking his own trance-like stare, Leon looked down at his left shoulder and saw what she was looking at.  There on his body lay a quarter-sized circular mound of skin that had scarred over – his bullet wound from Raccoon City.  
  
    His mind flashed with images of Annette Birkin.  Ada had gone for her gun, but the scientist had shot it out of her reach.  There had been no where left for her to run.  Without thinking, he jumped on top of the spy and took the bullet that was meant to end her life.  
  
    It was Ada who finally broke the silence.  “You saved my life that day, Leon,” she said softly as her eyes continued to gaze upon the scar.  Soon the fingertips from her right hand began to gently caress the wound – a wound she had treated to save his life.  
  
    Her eyes then found his; the surprise still there.  “You saved me without any concern for your own life.  No one… no one has ever done anything like that for me before… except for you.”  
  
    Leon watched as Ada’s eyes began to tear up; showing him that she had been deeply moved by his actions that day.  He was beginning to see real emotion crack through the solemn mask that she always seemed to wear upon her lovely face.  He felt as if he should say something.  
  
    “We both had each other’s back that day, Ada.”  
  
    She cocked her head and stared at him.  A soft smile crossed her face as her fingers trailed over the scar on his right cheek – a parting gift from Jack Krauser.  “No, Leon.   ** _You_** saved **_me_** … and not just from a bullet.  If the situation had been reversed, I don’t think that I would have done the same for you.”  
  
    “You don’t know that,” he said immediately.  “You removed the bullet from my shoulder and stopped the bleeding.  You later saved me from the Tyrant when it grabbed me.”  
  
    “Only because I felt I owed you a debt.  I didn’t do it out of charity.  But you… you didn’t ask for anything… why…?”  
  
    She suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and bent over him.  Pressing her lips to his, she kissed him with fierce passion, and then he felt a single tear fall upon his cheek.  He was about to put his arms around her when he quickly felt her hands grasp his wrists, pinning him to the bed.  Despite the fact that her countenance had softened, she still wasn’t afraid to let him know who was leading this dance.  Her lips continued on as she kissed his right cheek and continued down toward his ear.  
  
    “Tell me the last part of your story, Leon,” she said softly.  Her voice had reverted back to its assertive, confident tone.  It was still a surprise to him just how fast she could control her emotions.  While he normally wore his on his sleeve, she must have had a great deal of practice over the years on how she handled her own.  “Tell me why you decided to become a cop.”  
  
    That had been ten years ago.  It almost seemed as if it had been in another life given where he was now.  “You really want to know about that?”  He asked with surprise.  
  
    “Of course I do,” she replied as she continued to kneel over him and gently kiss his cheek down to his neck.  Her breasts began to gently brush against his chest causing his erection to become that much more uncomfortable.  “I’ve told you what I know about you.  Now I want you to tell me what I don’t.  Besides…” she looked up at him with that devilish smile of hers.  Her lips were a scant millimeter from his nose.  Planting a soft kiss there, she continued, “…it’s the toll I require from you if you truly want me.  Do you want me, Leon?”  
  
    He nodded his head.  Of course he did.  “Yes, Ada… I do.”  
  
    “Then talk to me,” she whispered as she went back to kissing his neck.  
  
    “Okay…” he replied slowly as he gathered his thoughts.  “I… guess I grew up always wanting to help other people.  The police field seemed like the way to go.  I lived about fifty miles from Raccoon City as a boy so it was as good a place as any.”  
  
    His words hung there as Ada continued with her gentle kisses without responding.  Perhaps she had gotten bored… his back story wasn’t really all that interesting.  After a while, he thought the subject had been dropped until she spoke.  
  
    “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?  Why did you choose the Raccoon Police Department over your own home town?”  
  
    He paused for a moment, guarding his words before responding.  “More opportunities, I suppose.  A bigger city meant a better chance at making a difference.  It seemed like the right move at the time.”  
  
    Again his response hung there between the two of them while she continued kissing his cheek and ear… and again she responded.  
  
    “That seems like a strange career path for you, Leon.  Your father was a carpenter; your mother a secretary at your high school.  And you yourself worked at your father’s business while you were growing up.  Why did you choose to become a cop?”  
  
    Leon felt the hairs on his arms being to stand on end as he heard Ada recite his family’s employment history.  Apparently she had already done some research on his past in between the times they had crossed paths.  He would have been flattered – if it had been any subject other than this.  Her questions were beginning to make him uneasy.  
  
    “I… wanted to make a difference in this world, Ada,” he replied.  “Is that really so strange?”  
  
    Again she was silent as her lips continued their delicious teasing while her right hand caressed the opposite side of his face.  
  
    “Something happened, didn’t it?  Something that began to drive you to become the man you are,” she said.  After a long pause, she asked, “What happened to your parents, Leon?”  
  
    His whole body froze at the question – a question he didn’t want to answer or even think about.  Before he could stop himself, the images flashed before his eyes.   _The mangled car…The hospital morgue… The sheets being pulled back revealing…_  He shut his eyes tight.  
  
    “No…!”  He replied, his voice barely above a whisper.  “Ada… no!  I… I don’t want to talk about that.”  
  
    Her index finger softly pressed against his lips.  “Shhh… it’s alright, Leon.  You’re safe here.  I want to know about you… **_all_** about you.  That’s the toll I spoke of.”  Her lips gently kissed him as she went back to his ear.  The delicious sound of her voice was getting to him.  “What happened, Leon?  She whispered softly.  “Tell me what happened.”  
  
    He felt the sting of tears begin to form in his eyes as he took a deep breath to calm himself.  Anxiety began rolling over him in waves; his skin goose-prickling at the memories.  He didn’t want to talk about this – he never wanted to talk or think about it ever again!  Why was she doing this?  Why did she want to know?  What was so damn important about his past that she was digging up his ghosts as her ‘toll’ in order to allow him to…?  
  
    “Leon…” she repeated gently, bringing his attention back to her, “tell me what happened.”  
  
    _God, her voice…_ It was in his head – echoing throughout his brain.  He wanted to leave.  He wanted to stay.  He wanted to hit her.  He wanted to fuck her.  What the hell was she doing to him?  Why… why was **_he_** bending to **_her_** will?  Did he really want her that much?   _Why ask a question you already know the answer to?_  
  
    Surprising himself, he began to answer her.  “They… they were driving home from a long overdue date in Raccoon City one night.  It had been raining so the roads were wet…”  He paused to collect himself as images of their mangled car brought themselves to bear in his mind.  Ada was still kissing him as she ran her fingers through his hair in a comforting motion as if silently encouraging him to continue.  
  
    “What happened, Leon?”  
  
    “The Raccoon Police had responded.  They told me that my parents had been struck by another vehicle – a possible drunk driver.  The person was never found nor was the car.  My parents… their car had gone off the side of the road and down an embankment.  It had struck a tree near the woods.  By the time they were found, they were already…”  He stopped – he couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.  
  
    “I’m so sorry,” she whispered gently.  “Is this why you wanted to become a cop?  To protect others?”  
  
    He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.  As he did, a new tear rolled down his right cheek.  Soon, he felt Ada’s warm lips gently kiss it away.  She was being so intimate with him right now – encouraging him to open up and talk to her, but he was silently afraid.  Would she think less of him if he told her the full truth?  He **_had_** tried to do good in his life since his parents had died, but he was certainly no white knight in shinning armor despite Ashley Graham’s references to the contrary.  Ever since her TV interview, she had talked him up like some kind of action hero and Prince Charming mixed together.  That was enough for every news media outlet in the country to begin hounding after him for an interview – something he had wanted nothing to do with.  He was no hero.  Thank God for simple words like “National Security” as a legitimate excuse to decline.  
  
    “Mom and Dad had always taught me to look out for others – the people who couldn’t stand up for themselves or needed help,” he said at last.  “But when I joined the police academy, my main motivation was… elsewhere.”  
  
    “What do you mean?”  
  
    His face began to betray his guilt and shame.  He wanted to stop, but Ada had wanted the truth from him… and for reasons he couldn’t explain, he was now willing to give it to her.  He’d never been good at lying during the course of his life as the truth always seemed so much easier to give.  
  
    “I… I thought that when I became an officer I could look through my parents’ case file.  Maybe there was evidence or leads in there that the investigators had missed.  Perhaps I could…”  He heard his voice trail off as he recalled what his motivations were back then.  
  
    “You thought you could find the ones responsible for their deaths.”  She finished the sentence for him.  
  
    Another tear rolled down his cheek as he silently nodded his affirmation.  Ada gently kissed it away as she had done the other.  Somehow her actions were making it easier for him to talk about the painful subject.  
  
    “Dad told me once after I had gotten into a fight at school that vengeance was a poor excuse for one’s actions – that good should always be returned for evil.  But I was sixteen then, and it was a shitty time in my life to lose my parents.  I was lost, alone, angry… and worse – I began to lose sight of everything my parents ever tried to teach me about being a good man.  I went wild – getting into fights at school at the drop of a hat.  I lost my focus; my reason for being.  I was just so… angry all the time.  Angry… and bitter.  I blamed God and the world for letting my parents die and for allowing the people who were responsible to get away with it.  All I could think about was finding them and making them pay.  I thought about it every night before I went to bed and every morning when I woke.  So when the day came when I could finally join the academy… I did.  And ever since their deaths, I couldn’t see how I was dishonoring their memory with every action I took and the desire for vengeance in my heart.”  
  
    “You loved them,” she replied softly.  
  
    He nodded.  “They were my whole world.  I never had a brother or a sister.  It was just the three of us.  That gave me more of their attention… but it also made their loss that much more unbearable.”  
  
    He paused and swallowed.  The words had been surprisingly easy to say now.  Maybe he had needed to talk about it.  It had always been something that he had kept buried deep within his heart so that no one would know about the darker thoughts that he had kept.  Ada continued to silently kiss and comfort him while he spoke; giving no indication that she was judging him.  She was simply giving him all the support that he needed to tell her about his past.  
  
    A chuckle then escaped his lips.  “Somehow fate intervened on my behalf.  My first day on the force came on September 29th 1998 – the day of the Raccoon City outbreak.  I was so set on my course when I drove to the station that night.  But… something happened.  When I found Claire being attacked by a zombie, all of that hate I’d stored up suddenly began to melt away.  It was then and there of all places that the only thing I could remember was what my parents had told me about looking out for others.  So without a second thought I saved her and protected her along with Sherry…” he paused as he looked up at the Asian woman kneeling over him.  She was staring back at him with the same gentle smile on her face as she watched him speak.  “… and you too, Ada.  I wanted to protect all of you.  With that I was able to let go of the anger that had been burning me up and found myself again.  I found my true self out of the ashes of that fallen city… and I’ve never strayed from it again.”  He looked up at her sparkling eyes and grinned.  “And that’s the story of how Leon Scott Kennedy came to be the man he is today.”  
  
    She had crossed her hands over his chest and was looking back at him.  The smile was still on her face.  “That was a pure moment of truth between us, Leon.  Thank you.”  Ada replied.  “You are a good and honorable man.  Your parents would be proud of who you’ve become.  I know that I am.”  
  
    He felt himself smile at her compliment, especially for her thinking that his parents would approve.  “Thanks, Ada.  You know I’ve never told anyone about this before.  I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t…”  He let his voice trail off, hoping that she would take his meaning.  
  
    “Your secret is safe with me,” she replied with another warm smile.  
  
    “Does this sour your view of me?”  
  
    “On the contrary, Leon,” she cooed, “I have an even greater admiration and respect for you now.  I know that it took quite a bit of courage for you to tell me that.”  
  
    “Was it enough to let me touch you yet?”  He asked with a playful smile of his own.  He was beginning to feel better... and more comfortable with her.  
  
    She smiled in kind and ran the tip of her finger down the length of his nose.  “We’ll see.  I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t thinking of what it would feel like to have your hands on me.  But if I allow it, it will be on **_my_** terms.”  
  
    Before he could respond she kissed him deep, and soon her tongue found his.  Her hands were on his forearms, and she soon ran them up to his hands.  When their fingers intertwined, she gently pushed them above his head.  Her mouth and lips were so inviting that he was erect in seconds.  Her hands stretched his own through the brass head board frame above him as she continued her kisses.  She was so beautiful.  
  
    **_CLICK… CLICK._** Leon had heard the sounds before he felt the cool kiss of steel on his wrists.  Looking up he was shocked by what he saw.  His wrists were handcuffed in between the head board posts… with his own handcuffs!  How in the hell had she gotten them on him without him knowing?  
  
    “Ada!”  He said in alarm.  “What are you doing?”  
  
    “Relax, Mr. Kennedy,” she said with a smile as she ran her fingers down his cheek.  “You won’t need your hands for what we’re going to do next so I’m removing them from the equation… just in case you feel the need to be grabby.  Right now, all you’ll need is that handsome face of yours… and your tongue.”


	2. That Night (Part 2)

_Okay_ , he thought, _this is… different._  
  
    Leon could already feel his heartbeat picking up again with the anticipation of Ada’s intentions.  That, coupled with the fact that he’d never been into the bondage scene before.  Awkward that he may be when he did have a woman in his bed, it was **_he_** who had set the tone and pace in the bedroom.  Maybe it was because they had expected it of him.  He was a government agent with a mysterious job and charming good looks.  Perhaps he had the James Bond-like persona that those ladies had wanted and as a result, they wanted him to lead.  It wasn’t that the sex was bad – it just wasn’t all the bells and whistles he had expected it to be.  
  
    In this moment however, he had no illusions about who was running the show.  Ada had already made it plain that if he truly wanted her then he would have to follow **_her_** lead.  As frightening as the prospect initially was, he soon found the idea of submitting to her a bit… intriguing.  Now he wasn’t sure if it was Ada who was making him nervous or himself.  She had already coaxed him past a couple of his limits that he didn’t think he could overcome – Obeying a woman in the bedroom and speaking about his parents.  And now she was forcing him to confront a third – being a helpless participant to her will.  Perhaps ‘will’ was too light a word when it came to the lovely spy.  Mercy would be more apt to describe it.  Reflexively he looked up and tried to move his wrists but the bed frame had no give to it.  He wasn’t going anywhere.  
  
    “Trying to escape so soon?”  Her voice brought his attention back to her.  While he had been silently gauging his predicament, Ada had already moved down the length of his body and was kneeling between his legs.  She was staring at him with a playful pout on her face as her eyes went from his bound wrists to his face.  “I’m hurt to think that you would try and leave now, Mr. Kennedy,” she said in feigned offense, “especially considering that I haven’t even gotten to the best parts yet.”  
  
    He stared silently at her for what seemed like an eternity.  Somehow her playful words were having a calming effect on him.  Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath and let his arms relax.  He could feel her body slowly moving up his.  When he opened his eyes, she was again over top of him.  She went to the side of his face and tenderly planted a kiss on his left cheek as if knowing that was what he had needed.  Then her lips went to his ear.  
  
    “I know that you’re nervous, Leon,” she whispered softly.  He felt her tongue on the lobe of his ear.  “You’ve never done this before have you – letting a woman make you helpless?  It’s okay.  All you have to do right now is lie back, listen to my voice, and trust me.  Can you do that?”  
  
    God, she was going to push him past this barrier wasn’t she?  He was already laying helpless to her will but trust her?  Could he really do that considering their turbulent history?  Still, she **_had_** always looked out for him.  There was no other explanation as to why he was still breathing if it wasn’t for her.   _Ada…_  
  
    Nodding his head silently, he took another breath.  His heart was like thunder; pounding so hard he could hear its beating in his ears.  “Yes, Ada.  I… I can do that,” was his reply.  He wanted her.  Whatever it took; whatever obstacles he had to overcome – he wanted **_her._**  
  
    Her warm smile greeted him.  “We’re both on this ride together, Leon.  Just let go of the reigns and let me take you where I wish.  I promise that you won’t forget it… ever.”  
  
    Was that supposed to be comforting… or a threat?  He could never tell with her.  The woman was such a damned mystery to him – a mystery that he had wanted to uncover for years.  No matter how much material he’d read on her from dossiers and profiles however, she always ended up surprising him in one way or another – whether it was using him to complete her own objectives… or saving his life when he least expected it.  And here tonight, he had been trying to maintain some level of control during the course of her visit, but now it seemed that his efforts were doomed to failure.  Judging from how easily she had seized the reigns from his grasp, she had no doubt been with other men before and knew just how to have her way with them.   _Damn it!_  He was again warring with himself.  Could he really go through with this?  When he looked at her, though and saw her moving down the length of his body, he had his answer.  
  
    Ada’s delicate hands ran along the edges of his hips before resting on his belt.  Slowly she began to pull the leather strap through the loop and unbuckled it.  Another gasp escaped him when he realized how close she was to his cock.  Then she began to unbutton and unzip his pants, revealing his blue boxers that were barely containing the strain of his erection.  Running her fingers under the elastic of his shorts, she took hold of them near either side of his hips and looked at him.  
  
    “Raise up, Leon.”  
  
    He knew immediately what she wanted from him and did as he’d been asked.  Once she had slid his clothing down his legs, she carefully pulled his pants off one leg at a time and then removed his socks.  His cock was now free from its confines and was twitching wildly from his arousal.  
  
    “Bring your feet together,” she said softly while standing at the edge of the bed.  
  
    Taking his pants, she began to pull out his belt.  When he had positioned his feet close enough for her liking, Ada immediately snaked the leather strap behind his heels and pulled the loop tight.  Not enough to cut off his circulation, but tight enough to keep him from moving anywhere.  Once secured, she wrapped the belt around his ankles twice more before pulling the end through the middle of the knot and tied it to the brass footboard.  Now he was completely immobilized – helpless and vulnerable to the Asian beauty.  
  
    Leon pulled his gaze from his bindings and back to her.  He could hear his breathing quicken as another wave of anxiety rolled over him.  She had been right – he’d never done anything like this before.  Part of him was ashamed for appearing so green and inexperienced in front of her.  But to his relief, she hadn’t judged him about it.  It was as if she was enjoying the fact that he hadn’t been with many women, and that **_she_** could have her way with him now.  She simply looked at him with that angelic complexion of hers that always seemed to turn his will into ash every time he saw it.  He silently cursed her and himself.   _Why does she make me feel this way?  Why am I so twisted and confused around her?_  
  
    “Leon…” she called to him from the end of the bed.  His eyes found hers.  “Breathe, handsome.  Slowly…”  
  
    He quickly realized that his chest was heaving.  Nervousness and anxiety were beginning to get the better of him until he had heard her voice – her calming, soothing voice.  Taking a deep breath, he let it out and repeated the process until he felt the gentle touch of her fingers trailing up the length of his right leg.  
  
    “That’s it… just breathe.  Easy does it,” she cooed.  Her voice was helping and soon his breathing returned to normal.  “Are you okay?”  She asked with some concern in her eyes.  
  
    “I’m alright, Ada… I was just...” he managed to say.  Again he was fumbling for words – a continuous effect she had on him.  “I’m fine.”  
  
    “I’m happy to hear that,” she said with a smile as she mounted the bed and straddled his belly, “because I can’t stand this waiting any longer.  I want to feel you touch me, Mr. Kennedy… right now!”  
      
    Looking at the bindings above his head and feet, he gave her a puzzled look.  “How would you like me to do that?”  
  
    “Not with your hands, you silly man!”  Ada smiled as she leaned toward him.  Her right index finger ran along his lips.  “Stick out your tongue for me.”  
  
    He stared at the Asian woman for a brief moment admiring not only her beauty, but her commanding presence as well.  She certainly knew what she wanted – a trait he wished that he shared with her.  He surprised himself again by dutifully complying; opening his mouth and pushing out his tongue.  
  
    She gently brushed the bangs from his face and rewarded him with another smile as she slowly leaned over his head.  Her breasts were now only scant inches from his mouth.  His eyes went wide in order to drink in how beautiful each of them was.  Below, he could feel his cock straining at his groin.  God, he wanted her so much!  
  
    Slowly, she brought her right nipple to his tongue.  Taking her breast in her hand, she carefully ran the dark tip across his wet smoothness.  Involuntarily, he felt his body tremble at the touch.  As he looked up at her, he could see her eyes roll back as she closed them and let out a long sigh.   _God have mercy…_ he thought to himself.  
  
    “Ohhh… Leon!”  Ada purred as she repeated the motion.  
  
    At that moment, he wanted so much to take her breasts into his mouth and suckle them until his heart was content.  Still, he had the presence of mind to realize that she hadn’t asked him to do that just yet.  Right now she was content to run her nipples across his tongue, and he wasn’t about to argue.  Slowly she alternated by teasing him with both of her tips.  Once one had rolled across the flat of his tongue, she would immediately replace it with the other.  
  
    Looking up into her eyes, he saw her staring back at him.  There was lust in her gaze.  No … not just lust – hunger.  Ada looked like a predator sizing up her meal, and he made no mistakes of whom the prey was that she was about to devour.  
  
    “I want you to suck my tits, Leon,” her voice was filled with desire.  “Do it… please!”  
  
    _Please?_  She hadn’t begged him once this entire night.  He wanted to ponder its meaning further, but as soon as one of her breasts pressed against his lips, he abandoned rational thought and eagerly set out to perform his task.  Another loud gasp escaped her as he closed his lips around her nipple.  It was smooth and firm – hardened by her arousal.  Ada’s head tilted back; her mouth wide open as she exhaled loudly.  
  
    “Leon… God!”  She whispered.  He soon felt a hand work its way behind his head and through the strands of his hair.  “Harder…”  She said to him as she pushed his face into her breast.  
  
    He was more than happy to comply.  He’d wanted a chance at her lovely breasts all night and was beyond himself with pleasure that she had let him loose to devour them with his attention.  Being gentle was no longer a concern.  Moving between both of them, he licked each nipple with his tongue before sucking in earnest.  He then began to improvise his movements as he pulled his lips away.  Taking his teeth, he gently bit down on the Asian beauty causing her to moan in pleasure above him.  She made no mention for him to stop; it was clear to him that she wanted it rough and rough was what he’d give her.  It was ironic considering that she appeared just as delicate as any other woman he’d ever encountered.  But below the surface, he knew full well there lurked a dominant will of iron that hid itself behind the gentleness of her features.  Ada Wong was a strong and intimidating woman.  He had realized that about her when he had first met her in the RPD’s underground parking garage.  The skill and ease at which she had dispatched those zombie dogs was incredible to watch.  Still, as strong as she was, she hadn’t seen the last dog leap for her before he had shot it dead and saved her.  The way her eyes had looked at him afterwards… the smile on her lips.  He could feel that same tingle run down his spine again.  
  
    Time was lost to him.  He hadn’t even considered how long it was that he’d been worshiping her; he just knew that he wanted to make the most out of the time she had given him.  To his displeasure, she soon pulled herself away forcing him to reluctantly release her nipple from his lips.  Smiling down at him, she was breathing heavily herself from his attention.  Her lips then kissed the bridge of his nose.  
  
    “Are you thirsty, handsome?”  She asked in that same delicious voice that he loved.  
  
    The sudden question forced his mind to switch gears.  Quickly, he realized how parched he was.  Nodding his head he replied, “I am a bit, yes.”  
  
    Running a finger along his cheek, she dismounted him and walked over to the desk.  He followed her movements, unable to take his eyes off of her.  She was just so… stunning.  Ada obviously worked hard to maintain the beautiful shape of her body.  
  
    As if reading his mind, she asked, “Like what you see, Mr. Kennedy?”  She hadn’t turned around when she uncorked the bottle of champagne and poured the golden liquid into one of the glasses.  
  
    “Of course I do,” he replied with a smile.  “Have you seen your ass?”  
  
    He heard her giggle in response to his playful banter, but she didn’t reply.  When she did turn around to face him, she slowly drank the champagne while keeping her eyes fixed on his.  When she had finished nearly half of the glass, she stopped and smiled at him without a word.  He wasn’t sure what to make of that silent stare she was giving him.  
  
    “You look amused.  What is it?”  He finally asked.  
  
    “You seem more settle now,” she replied.  “I’m glad to see that you’re adjusting.”  
  
    She was right.  He’d been so focused on her and her delicious torments that he hadn’t had time to be nervous about being tied down.  Somehow she had managed to lead him through his fear once again.  It was almost strange when he thought about it.  Obviously she wanted him to please her, but she also appeared to want to help him through some of his own personal issues and hang-ups.   And what was really confusing was that it didn’t appear as if she was doing it for her own benefit.  She seemed to be genuinely trying to make him stronger… for himself.  Right now it felt as if all of the awkwardness and nerves had melted away leaving a new man born from their shell.  
  
    He smiled back at her.  “A lot of that is because of you.  You are an amazing woman, Ada.”  
  
    Ada gazed at him for a long moment, her eyes never wavering from his.  “Not as amazing as the man lying before me.”  
  
    “Stop it,” he said in feigned embarrassment.  “Any more of that talk, and it’ll all go to my head.”  
  
    “I certainly hope so,” she said with a smile as she looked down at his semi-erect cock.  Her attention alone seemed to make it rise once more.  “But first, I promised you a drink.”  
  
    Holding the half-empty glass in her hand, Ada made her way back to him and straddled his body once more.  Leaning over him, she smiled down and whispered.  “Open you mouth, Leon – nice and wide.”  
  
    Doing as he was told, she slowly dangled her left breast in front of him.  Looking up, he saw her move the glass down to her chest and pressed the lip against her skin.  Ever so slowly she tipped the glass upwards, and soon the golden liquid ran down her beautiful breast until it reached her nipple and poured into his mouth.  Whatever its brand, it was delicious when it touched his tongue.  After a few seconds, she stopped and allowed him a moment to swallow before repeating the process again.  
  
    Leon felt inflamed with a newfound sense of lust and passion for her.  Never in his life had he done anything close to this.  Ada was truly a marvel – a woman not only able to push him into the unknown with her lead, but also able to tease and torment him in some of the most debauched ways possible.  As much as he wanted her at that moment, it was probably best that she hadn’t touched him yet, or else he feared coming all over the bed at the slightest touch of her fingers.  
  
    As the last of the champagne dripped from her nipple and into his mouth, Ada slowly placed her breast against his lips and said, “Get the rest, Mr. Kennedy.”  
  
    With long full motions of his tongue, he began to gently rub all across her gorgeous flesh seeking out every stray drop that remained.  He was in absolute heaven.  The greatest feeling in the world at that moment was being able to touch the Asian beauty whom he had wanted since Raccoon City.  
  
    After giving him enough time to finish his task, Ada once again pulled away and crouched against his body.  He felt her nipples digging into his chest as her face approached his.  The warm sensation of her tongue then pressed against his cheek and lower neck.  Some of the champagne had spilled down his mouth as she gave him his drink.  Now she was making sure that not a drop on his body was wasted either.  Leon closed his eyes and silently thought about how warm and inviting she felt as she lay against him.  
  
    “You’ve been such a good boy tonight, Leon,” she whispered against his ear causing his head to swim.  “I think that deserves a little reward, don’t you agree?”  
  
    “Yes,” he replied quickly.  He was so eager at the mere mention of a reward that he was again as hard as a rock.  What in the hell had she done to him?  
  
    Dismounting him once more, she stood at the side of the bed and looked down at him.  Her lovely long legs were right there next to his face.  If he hadn’t been handcuffed to the bed frame, he would have been able to cross the few inches separating them and touch her.   _Damn it!_  
  
    “Earlier I promised you a chance to properly admire my ass,” she replied.  “I’m a woman of my word so I think its time I deliver.”  
  
    With that, she turned around and showed him the lovely curve of her buttocks.  Taking her panties in her thumbs, she slowly began to shimmy them over her hips.  As the black fabric ran past her cheeks, she bent at the waist, giving him a perfect view of what they’d been concealing this whole time.  Her womanhood was freshly shaven and looked absolutely inviting causing the strain in his groin to become more painful by the minute.  Considering everything he had seen and felt this night, it was a small wonder it was still attached.  The panties slid down her thighs with ease, and she gently kicked them to the side with her stiletto heel.  Leon was at a loss for words.  
  
    “Do you like, Leon?”  She asked playfully.  
  
    He nodded his head.  “Yes, Ada.  I do.”  
  
    “You’ve been worshiping me like a queen all night.  Perhaps its time I sat on my throne.”  
  
    She mounted the bed again, but this time she brought her right knee up by his outstretched right arm.  Swinging her elegant left leg over his head, she was now kneeling directly over top of him. Looking up at the moist opening of her sex, he trembled with anticipation of what she was about to do.  He was scared and excited all over again.  
  
    Leon watched in silent fascination as Ada slowly lowered her body down onto his waiting mouth.  No sooner had she pressed herself against him when he began to set out pleasuring the lovely spy.  She was so wet – aroused by everything she had done to him and perhaps still planned to do.  He silently prayed that this would continue on for a delicious eternity, but due to an unspoken commitment to the woman, he brought his focus back to her.  With the flat of his tongue, he started at the top near her clit and slowly passed between the lips of her womanhood.  When he reached the end of her path, he began again.  Above him he could hear her gasp in response.  He continued on, savoring the taste of her while still wrapping his mind around the fact that this was really happening.  It was almost like a dream, but one where there was no question – Ada Wong was here in his bed, and she was straddling his face while he pleasured her.  This was beyond any fantasy he’d ever had.  
  
    Without warning he suddenly felt a finger run up the delicate underside of his shaft.  A moan escaped him which elicited a delightful purr from Ada.  
  
    “My, that’s a big cock you have there, Mr. Kennedy,” she cooed.  “I’m not sure if a little girl like me can take something that size, but if you’re a good boy and make me come with that tongue of yours, I’ll show you all of the wonderful things I can do with **_my_** mouth.”  
  
    Leon heard himself moan into the moist opening of her sex.  Between her promise of another reward and the circling of her index finger around his shaft, his mind was overloaded with the possibilities.  Below his waist, his groin was on fire while he strained against her torturous touch.  He was helpless to fight against it.  All he could do was lie there while she tormented him.  It was horrible and beautiful all at once.  Moaning once more, he began to lick her faster in long strokes with the flat of his tongue.  He heard her gasp again while her movements along his cock were driving him insane with pleasure.  He would need to be careful, or he risked ruining this time with her.   _Focus on pleasing her and not yourself_ , he thought.  If he could shift his thought process perhaps he could put his full attention on her and still enjoy what she was doing to him without the fear of coming too soon.  
  
    Thinking about how soft and wet Ada was, he began to lick her even faster along the hard mound of her clitoris.  Almost immediately he felt her finger let go of him as she sat up straight.  She cried out his name and began to moan as she ground her pelvis against his face.  Her moan soon turned into a scream as her hand went to her clit.  She began to rub herself frantically while he moved his tongue down between her lips and into her opening.  Another scream pierced the room.  
  
    “Oh my God… **_LEON!_** ”  She gasped as her fingers slowed and then stopped.  “You made that one… sneak up on me… you clever man!”  
  
    He turned his face and planted a kiss on the inside of her thigh as he let out a deep sigh full of satisfaction.  “I aim to please, Ada.  I wanted you to enjoy that.”  
  
    “You have no idea!  God!”  She gasped once more as she slowly pulled herself from his face.  “You have some hidden talents, Mr. Kennedy,” she said as she began to crawl down his body.  
  
    When she reached his cock, she turned and straddled his legs.  “Close your eyes and relax,” she whispered.  “Let me take you away from here.”  
  
    Leon closed his eyes and felt her hand gently grasp him.  Just as quick, her tongue ran along the underside of his shaft until she reached his dripping tip.  He moaned at the sensations that were shooting out of him.  When she teased him like that a second time, he quickly felt his manhood disappear inside her mouth.  His heart was beating hard – not with fear, but with a desire that had consumed him whole.  Right now no one else in this world existed but her.  Her velvet tongue was beyond anything he’d ever experienced before.  There was no question that Ada was an experienced woman who knew how to please a man.  A beautiful woman like her wouldn’t be running around the world celibate her entire life.  But tonight she was here with him.  How had he been so lucky?  Did she truly want him that much?  
  
    His attention was brought back to her as he felt her take him into her mouth again.  Looking down, he watched as his shaft slowly disappeared inside before she moved back toward his tip.  Her tongue then ran along the underside of his head causing him to moan before surrendering to her mouth once more.  It felt as if his entire groin was on fire.  He’d been so hard for so long that now he was aching for release.   _No…_ he thought, _Not yet.  I want her too much._  So he laid there bound wrist and feet enjoying the painful pleasure she was putting him through.  The way her eyes met his – her look held her knowledge of his agony, but she was once again pushing his endurance to strengthen his resolve… and most likely to suit her own ends as well.  He wasn’t that naïve after all.  
  
    “This waiting is killing me, Leon,” she gasped.  “No more foreplay.  I want you, and I’m going to take you right now!”  She crawled up and straddled his hips; his cock was already straining to find her.  Looking down into his eyes, her face once again held the smile of a huntress about to devour her prized kill.  “Have you ever been fucked by a woman before, Leon?”  She asked.  
  
    He wasn’t sure what to make of that question.  He’d had other women in the past, to which a few had ridden him while he lay on his back.  Was that what she was referring to?  “Yes, Ada.  I’ve had…”  
  
    “No you haven’t,” she interrupted.  “I’m sure you’ve had women ride your cock, but you’ve never let one of them **_fuck_** you before, have you?”  
  
    He felt the puzzled look show on his face.  Ada smiled and leaned over him, running her tongue over his lips.  She then went to his ear.  
  
    “You’ve never let a woman make you completely helpless,” she whispered seductively.  “To tie you up and use you for her own pleasure.  When you’re no longer in control, and she takes you inside of her at **_her_** pace – only when that happens does she **_fuck_** you, Mr. Kennedy.”  She moved up to face him and smiled.  “And you are about to be fucked.”  
  
    That made him a bit nervous, but there was also a strange feeling of excitement, too.  She was right – he’d never had that type of act happen to him before.  He’d always thought of sex as simply that – sex.  It felt good and was fun to do, but he had never considered how much more there could be to it.  
  
    His attention quickly shifted back to Ada when he felt her hand on him.  She was pointing him toward her waiting sex as she slowly lowered herself down.  He held his breath as soon as he felt his head make contact with her wet opening.  She was ready for him, and soon his shaft began to slide in with ease.  Slowly, inch by inch, she began take all of him.  When he looked up at her face, he could see her eyes close, and her ruby lips pressed tightly together forming a line.  When the last of his cock was inside of her, she pressed her knees down on the sheets next to his body.  As if on cue, both of them exhaled together.  His long-time fantasy was now a reality.  
  
    Remaining still, Ada tilted her head back and moaned as her fingers pressed against his abs.  When she came back down, she opened her eyes and looked at him.  “Leon…” she gasped, “I’ve wanted you for so long.  I’m tired of fucking men I don’t care about, but you… you deserve me.”  
  
    With that, she slowly began to move herself up and then back down on him.  He wanted to moan, to scream, to tell her how much he was enjoying her, but he didn’t.  He wasn’t about to spoil this moment with any words.  Instead he began to breathe through his nose in an effort to keep quiet.  He wanted to watch the Asian goddess above him enjoying the pleasure of fucking him.  
  
    Again he surprised himself by his reaction to all of this.  What was happening to him?  He’d been so preoccupied with putting his hands on her all night, but now if that wasn’t in the cards, then he could live with it.  Right now he just wanted her to fuck him right here on this bed.  He wanted to feel how hot and wet she was for him.  That was what **_he_** wanted.  
  
    Slowly, she increased her movements as her hands found their way to his chest.  Her delicious moans filled the room with her pleasure.  Leon simply laid there and watched.  Being helpless to touch her had been maddeningly frustrating at first, but he was also excited by the sheer submissiveness of his predicament.  She had once again shown him things about himself that he hadn’t known.  The wet smoothness of her sex was everything he could have hoped it would be and more.  She was so beautiful, and he was the one lucky enough to be with her.  His groin was aching painfully under her assault as she continued moving her hips faster.  Suddenly, he felt it starting to build within him.  
  
    “Ada,” he gasped, “I’m…”  
  
    He hadn’t had time to complete the sentence when she stopped, and he then felt a biting pain in his chest.  
  
    **_“GOOOOOD DAAAAMN IT!”_**  He grunted loudly through clenched teeth.  Looking down, he saw her nails dig into his chest and scratch him hard the entire length of his body.  Long red marks quickly began forming on his flesh followed by several places where the skin had been broken.  
  
    “Don’t you dare, Leon!”  She hissed.  “Don’t you fucking dare, or I’ll tear you apart!”  
  
    Somehow the pain had the desired effect as his building release was quickly deflated.  Letting out a deep breath, Leon closed his eyes to get a handle on himself before she continued.  
  
    Soon he heard her voice again as it wormed its way inside his head.  “I think you’re enjoying this more than you let on, Leon,” he heard her say.  “Make me come one more time, and I’ll release you.  You can then take me until your heart’s content.  How does that sound?”  
  
    “Jesus… Ada!”  He moaned.  His heart was beating so hard in his chest.  He didn’t know how much more of this he could take until she either released him, or he died from heart failure.  
  
    “Can you last that long, handsome?”  She cooed as her fingers found his cheek.  
  
    Opening his eyes, he looked up at her.  “I want to make you come, Ada.  Whatever it takes; whatever I have to do – that’s what I want.”  
  
    “I might have to claw you again if you get close.  Are you up for that?”  
  
    He looked into her eyes knowing the truth in his words.  His resolve was steeled.  “Whatever it takes.”  
  
    Ada smiled and leaned forward to kiss his lips.  Once again she began to move her hips as the two of them began their dance.  This time however, instead of sitting upright to fuck him, she remained over his body while she gently kissed his lips and cheek.  She was being more intimate with him this time as if she no longer cared about portraying herself as the alpha female running the show.  It still amazed him how fast her moods could change.  The woman was a true enigma; a mystery he could spend his whole life attempting to unravel but in the end he’d be right back where he started – no where.  
  
    Breaking their kiss, she suddenly pushed herself up on her left hand while her right slid down between her legs.  “Oh God… Leon… I’m…!” She began to moan.  
  
    “Come for me, Ada,” he whispered to her.  “I want to watch you enjoy me.”  
  
    Almost immediately she arched her body backwards and screamed when it hit.  Looking up at her, he could feel his smile widen as he watched Ada pass through the throes of the pleasure that he was responsible for giving her.  He had wanted her more than any other woman he’d ever known, and deep down he knew that there was nothing in this world he would deny her if she asked it of him.  Ada Wong had him wrapped around her finger – there was no question about that.  It had always been her that he had wanted.  
  
    When her bliss subsided, Ada draped herself over his body.  Turning her head, she planted a tender kiss on his cheek.  “Leon… that was… incredible.”  
  
    “I wanted you to enjoy that, Ada.”  He replied; the smile growing on his lips.  
  
    Smiling in turn, she kissed him again.  “Now you understand what it means to please a woman in bed.  You must take your mind away from you own desires and focus solely on hers.”  Ada then turned her attention to his wrists bound above his head.  “I think it’s passed time I released you.  I want to feel you ravish me, Leon.  I want to feel your hands on me.”  
  
    She got up and retrieved the key from the desk and began unlocking the handcuffs.  Once free, he brought his hands down and began to rub the stiffness in his wrists.  Ada walked to the foot of the bed and began untying the belt from around his ankles.  Parting his legs, he turned and sat up on the edge of the bed.  She walked toward him and was now standing directly in front of him.  Her eyes were alight with mystery as her lips curved upwards into a smile.  Reaching her hands out to him, she once again beckoned him with her fingers.  Cautiously, he reached for them, but she made no attempt to stop him this time.  Taking her hands in his, he stood up and looked at her.  Her inviting smile was still there – still tempting him.  
  
    Reaching up, he put his right hand behind her head and pulled her against him.  His left went to the warm smoothness of her hip.  With his lips on hers, he gave her a warm insistent kiss that was full of unspoken want – **_his_** want.  He wanted her, and he wanted her now.  
  
    Running his hands down her body, he grabbed her lovely ass and lifted her up.  Almost immediately she took his cue and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.  He was initially going to throw her down on the bed, but she had already claimed it as her own when they had started.  What he needed right now was a place he could have as his.  He then noticed the table out of the corner of his eye.  
  
    Carrying Ada in his hands, he gently set her down on the table’s edge and laid her out along its length.  He was raging hard.  At that moment he wanted nothing more than to ram himself inside of her and make her scream his name.  But he soon recalled the words she had spoken to him and that gave him pause.   _“Now you understand what it means to please a woman in bed.  You must take your mind away from your own desires and focus solely on hers…”_  
  
    “Fuck me, Leon,” he heard her whisper.  “I know you want to.”  
  
    God help him, he **_did_** want to fuck her… but he also couldn’t allow himself be that callous – or selfish.  He wasn’t about to allow his desires to ruin this moment with her.  
  
    “No,” he heard himself say.  “I want to watch you enjoy this, Ada – all of it.  I want to finish how we started – with me pleasing you.”  
  
    She smiled and reached up to gently touch the red lines on his chest.  Her eyes showed a genuine softness he hadn’t expected to see from her.  It was as if right now he was actually seeing **_her_** – the **_real_** Ada Wong.  “Slow at first,” she said with a smile, “and then build yourself up.”  
  
    Her eyes closed, and a contented sigh escaped her lips when he entered her again.  When she looked back up at him, he saw that same soft expression in her eyes.  “I want you, Leon Scott Kennedy.”  
  
    There was no hesitation in his response.  “I want you, Ada Wong.”  
  
    It was a true moment between them.  Whatever they had done in their past seemed irrelevant.  They were here together and **_that_** was all that mattered.  Their eyes gazed into each other’s as if they were silently reaffirming their unspoken commitment to one another while he gently thrust his hips against her; her legs resting over his arms.  
  
    Ada Wong was a spy; a killer, but she was also the temptress to his heart.  The lines were quickly blurring between enemy and lover.  She’d never been an “enemy” to him in the true sense of the word as he had never been one to her.  Even when they had crossed paths, she had looked out for him despite using him to serve her own ends.  There was already mutual respect and admiration between the two of them… and they both felt the chemistry as well.  He wanted this moment to last forever regardless of how forbidden it was.  If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake from it.   ** _This_** was where he wanted to be.  
  
    Despite all that he wanted however, he couldn’t hold back his desire for her any longer.  “Ada…” he gasped.  
  
    She looked at him; her eyes full of understanding.  “I know, Leon,” she whispered.  “Don’t hold back anymore.  I want you to.”  
  
    Her words were his release, and so he let go.  Grabbing her breasts tightly in his hands, he began bucking into her as the feeling washed over him.  Her name was all that echoed from his lips as he spent himself inside of her.  The pain of his release rippled throughout his groin causing him to groan loud and long at the sensations flooding him.  Leaning over her body, he felt her hands moving through his hair in a soothing motion as the last of it passed from him; bringing him down ever so gently.  
  
    When it was over, he was panting for breath as he released his hold on her and placed his hands on the table.  The sweat was pouring out of him.  He could feel the cool kiss of the air as it passed over his body.  
  
    Ada sat up and took his face in her hands as she brought her lips to his.  They had both been overwhelmed with what had just taken place between them, and the gentle kiss was like a soothing balm for his soul.  His arms quickly wrapped themselves around her.  
  
    “ ** _That_** was amazing, handsome,” she replied as she touched her forehead to his.  “Even better than I had imagined.”  
  
    He took her delicate face in his hands and simply took a quiet moment to look at her.  She wasn’t running away this time.  She was here… with him, and with that he felt his smile grow.  The woman before him was so beautiful.  He wanted to tell her right then how much he cared about her and what she meant to him; how he wanted the two of them to just run away together right now and leave their lives behind… but he didn’t.  Some words it seemed were best left unspoken.  Whatever they were now – lovers, adversaries, friends, enemies – they were part of two separate and volatile worlds.  That alone was a dangerous combination – like a modern day Romeo and Juliet story, but on a much larger political stage… and with much more at stake.  
  
    “Ada,” he said at last.  “You are an amazing woman.”  
  
    Her smile was warm and inviting… and all his.  “And you are an incredible man, Mr. Kennedy.”  
  
    “So…” he replied slowly, “where do we go from here?”  
  
    “Well,” she responded as she ran her index finger down the bridge of his nose.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m up for an encore.  You game?”  
  
    He felt his smile return as he lifted her off of the table without a second thought and carried her back to the bed.  
  
****************************************************************************************************************  
  
    **_BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…_**  
  
    Leon began to open his eyes at the sound of the alarm clock blaring behind him.  Turning to look over his shoulder, he noticed the time – 7:30 in the morning.  Reaching over to the night stand, he pressed the off button and turned back on his side.  Without thinking, his right hand began to feel for her body lying next to him… but strangely he felt nothing.  
  
    “Ada…?”  He was still a bit groggy, but as he looked over at the opposite side of the bed, he felt his heart constrict in his chest.  She was gone.   _No…_  
  
    Sitting up, he called out her name again hoping against the truth that was becoming plain to see – Ada had left… just like she always did.  She was a like a specter that appeared when she willed and then left when she was through.  Balling his hands into fists, he pressed them tightly to his temples.  
  
    _She left me again… She left me, and she didn’t even say good-bye_.  Despite the beautiful night the two of them had, Leon was filled with a deep well of sadness knowing that she was gone.  Now, anger was beginning to find him.   _Damn you, Ada!  Why!?_  
  
    He threw the blankets off of his naked body and swung his legs over the side of the bed.  It was a mistake he’d soon realize.  His groin screamed in protest as did the aching stiffness in his wrists and ankles.  He had to sit there for a moment before he felt safe enough to stand.  His whole body felt as if it had been put through the wringer.  
  
    When he felt able, he stood and walked around the bed toward the bathroom.  Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he stopped.  There on the table was a white napkin and a wrapped package placed right where he would see it.  It was a note written in her hand writing.    
  
    _“I waited until you were asleep to make my exit.  I’m sorry about that, but you know how it is with our current circumstances.  I just wanted to let you know that last night was wonderful, and I promise you this - I’ll see you again one day, Leon. XOXO – Love, Ada”_  At the bottom right edge was the red imprint of her lips.  
  
     For a moment, Leon just stood and stared at the message she had left.  Gently taking it into his hands, he lifted it toward his nose and could smell the scent of her perfume that lingered on it.  He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.  Initially he’d been angry at her abrupt departure, but he had to rationally ask himself a question.  Did he really expect her to stay until morning and put herself in even greater danger?  This note had been the good-bye he’d been looking for and soon a smile spread across his face.  
  
    Setting down the napkin, he picked up the package that was wrapped in red foil with a pink bow on it.  “Very cute,” he replied as he began to unwrap it.  
  
    Pulling off the paper he was confronted with a white box.  He then proceeded to open it and pulled out its contents.  It was a snow globe not more than six inches tall.  Inside it contained the Eiffel Tower and a small couple in a dancing pose in front of it.  At the base of the globe it simply said “Paris, France – City of Love”.  
  
    He let out a chuckle as he looked at the present she had left him.  Walking over to the window of his room, Leon looked out on the city now that it was beginning to wake with dawn’s light.  He upended the globe and then quickly turned it back.  Holding it in the sunlight, he watched as the snow fell upon the quiet scene and a strange feeling of tranquility washed over him.  For a brief moment, his battered mind had found a sliver of peace in all these long years.  
  
    “Thanks, Ada.”


	3. A Past Confronted

**Peyton, Iowa**  
 **53 Miles Northeast of the Raccoon City Containment Zone**  
 **November 1st 2007**  
 **09:13 CST**  
  
  
    Leon had been sitting inside the rental car for the past twenty minutes as he stared down the lonely road that was Main Street.  He wasn’t exactly sure why he hadn’t opened the door and gotten out yet.  Maybe it was because the last time he had been here was over nine years ago when he’d left for his very first shift at the Raccoon Police Department.  Ever since that fateful night, he had never returned – not once.  
  
    He still didn’t know the reason why he’d decided to come back.  Perhaps it had to do with what Ada had said to him when they had lain spooned together after their tender ‘encore’.  It had been extremely peaceful lying there with his arms around her as he listened to the tranquil sound of her breathing.  It was then when she had said something that had stuck with him even as his mind had begun to drift off to sleep.  
  
    _“You should go and see them, Leon.”_  
  
    _“See who?”_  He had asked.  
  
    _“Your parents,”_ had been her reply.   _“You should go and see them – to say your good-byes and tell them what they meant to you.”_  
  
    That had caught him off guard.  Even in his tired state, he had felt his eyes open with trepidation.   _“I… I don’t know.  I haven’t been home in years.”_  
  
    _“Take some time and think about it,”_ she had insisted. _“You don’t want to deny yourself closure.  Your past will only continue to eat away at you until you put it to rest.  Trust me… I know.”_  
  
    Leon hadn’t pondered those cryptic words from that night until now.  Whatever demons continued to haunt her, Ada had given him some advice on how to deal with his own pain and regret.  Now he was sitting here in his hometown, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to remain.  
  
    The streets weren’t as busy as he’d remembered them as a boy, and given the dozens of “FOR SALE” signs he’d passed on his way here, he suspected that the purge of Raccoon City had been the cause of the town’s decline.  Still, some businesses were open – including the one he intended to visit.  
  
    Taking a deep breath, Leon pushed the bangs out of his face and opened the car door.  When he exited, he buttoned up the overcoat he’d worn over his suit.  The weather outside was getting colder.  Walking down the sidewalk the wind began picking up, sending fallen leaves swirling past his feet.  It seemed such a distant memory – a time when he was a young boy walking along these very streets with his parents.  He could remember them on either side of him holding his hands as they went to the corner store near the court house to get ice cream every Sunday after church.  When was it that he had stopped loving the cool kiss of fall and the leaves at his feet?  Was it right after they had died?  He sighed at the thought.   _It was so long ago…_  
  
    He stopped in front of his destination – a little flower shop that still stood on Main Street.  The owner, Judith Bentley, had been his eighth grade English teacher.  Now she was operating her flower business full time in the wake of her retirement.  Pushing open the door, a bell situated above the opening chimed at his presence.  From the back came the portly woman in her sixties whom Leon could not help but recognize.  
  
    “Can I help you, sir?”  She asked with a smile.  
  
    The woman hadn’t recognized him – he’d been gone for too long.  Leon contemplated just purchasing what he’d come here for and leave it at that, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to remain that detached.  He wanted some type of personal connection – anything at all – to his childhood town to aid in his homecoming.  
  
    “It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Bentley,” he said with a small smile.  “It’s… been a while since I was last here.”  
  
    Her eyes registered confusion as she looked back at him.  “Do I… know you, young man?”  
  
    “You should.  My mother worked as a receptionist at Peyton High School – Mary Ann Kennedy.”  
  
    The older woman squinted her eyes at the mention his mother’s name as if she was trying to place him.  “Mary Ann Kennedy…”  She looked back at him; suddenly her eyes went wide.  “Leon!?  Leon Kennedy!?  Oh my God!  I almost didn’t recognize you!  Oh, come here!”  
  
    The woman came around the counter and enveloped him in a huge embrace.  He’d initially been surprised by her response, but soon he felt himself smile as he put his arms around her.  
  
    “We thought you were dead, Leon!”  She exclaimed.  “You were in Raccoon City when… when it happened?”  
  
    _“You have so many scars…”_   
  
    The memories came flooding in.   _“No!  Leon!”_  Claire screamed as he fell.  The zombies… the monsters – all howling for his blood.  A sting from a bullet wound.  Ada was looking down at him.   _“Don’t die, Leon.  I owe you…”_  
  
    “Yes,” he replied, “but I managed to escape… with the help of some friends.”  
  
    “But… where have you been?”  
  
    He quickly glanced down at his suit.  “I’ve been working for the government since Raccoon.  I… I can’t say much more than that.”  
  
    “I see,” she replied.  “What brings you back to Peyton after all this time?”  
  
    He paused for a moment.  “I’m here to see Mom and Dad,” he replied.  “Do you still have roses here?”  
  
    She looked up at him and smiled knowingly.  “Pink.  That was your mother’s favorite color as I recall.”  The woman said as she turned and walked toward the back of the shop.  
  
    Leon felt himself choke up for a moment at her mention of his mother.  It had been so long since he’d taken the time to think about her that he almost forgotten that.  Suddenly a memory of him picking all of the flowers off of his mother’s pink rose bush entered his mind.  He couldn’t have been more than five or six at the time – a child full of energy and the desire to do anything to make his mother smile.  
  
    _“Mommy, look what I picked for you!”_  He had said as he ran inside the house with his make-shift bouquet.   _“Do you like them, Mommy?”_  
  
    His mother had been shocked at first.  He hadn’t realized it then, but the bush had been a gift from his grandmother almost a week before she had passed away.  Tears of sadness had begun to well in her blue eyes before she had knelt down and hugged him tightly.   _“I don’t just like them, Sweetie,”_ she had said.   _“I love them… as much as I love you.”_  
  
    “Yes… they were,” he heard himself say in response.  He quickly blinked away a tear that was forming in the corner of his eye.  “I’d like to get a dozen of them as well as a dozen white roses, too.”  
  
    As the older lady went about seeing to his order, he walked back to the window pane and looked out on the town square.  He was looking for anything to distract his thoughts right now.  Outside however, there were barely any signs of activity.  He saw one person walking east on Blackburn Avenue, and a single car pass down Main, but for the most part, the town looked nearly deserted.   _Nine years… and this is what it has become._  
  
    It had been so full of life when he was younger.  There’d been music festivals on Friday evenings on the court house lawn.   That had been the main inspiration for him learning the guitar when he was a boy.  It was a care-free, happy time in his life.  Too bad no one ever told him that a smile one day could be turned on its head in another – that bad things could happen when you were least expecting them.  That happiness… was just an illusion.  Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh.  
  
    “Things have changed, Leon,” he heard Mrs. Bentley say behind him.  “Ever since the Raccoon City incident, our town has been slowly dying.  It’s broken my heart.  We’ve gone from over three thousand people to less than five hundred now.”  
  
    “You’re still here,” he replied as he turned to face her.  “Why have you stayed all this time?  Why not leave and start someplace else?”  
  
    “I’ve lived here my whole life, child.  This was where I was born, where I was raised, and this is where I’ll die when my time comes.  I won’t leave it.”  
  
    “That’s a lot of dedication to a dead town.”  He almost winced at his callous delivery.  What in the hell was wrong with him?  Was he intentionally trying to provoke her… or himself?  
  
    She stood there for a moment and stared at him sadly.  “You used to love it here, too, Leon.  You had such an air of kindness about you back then.  My heart broke for you when your parents…”  
  
    “Don’t…” he said as he held up a hand.  His emotions were threatening to take him.  “Don’t… I… How much do I owe you?”  
  
    He paid her forty dollars and had her keep the change as she bagged his purchases.  Before he left, he heard her call out to him.  
  
    “Leon… This town could sure use you back again.  Don’t be a stranger… please.”  
  
    He had almost smiled at her simple words of kindness, but he knew that this place would never be his home.  Not with his ghosts buried here.  Not with his pain and regret still haunting him like a shadowy specter.  
  
    “This town doesn’t need me, Mrs. Bentley, just like I don’t need it.  Thank you, for the flowers.”  
  
    Getting back into his car, Leon began to drive through the center of town.  On his way, he passed by more evidence of Peyton’s decline.  There were so many shops and businesses that were shuttered and closed.  No doubt the townspeople that remained here had secured employment outside the city or were living on retirement.  In a way it **_was_** sad, and he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic on the drive.  All of his childhood places were gone.  The ice cream shop where he and his parents would go after church was out of business, the local cinema was boarded up, and even the town playground was overgrown with wild vegetation.  
  
    Ever since Umbrella had unleashed their biological disaster in Raccoon City everything had changed – the country, the world, his town… even him.  What was it all for?  Peyton had once been a thriving community built from the ground up by people like his father and grandfather.  It was small and quaint – a town that welcomed visitors and was a place where everyone looked out for each other.  Now it was a shell of its former self… just like him.  Maybe it was a good thing that he had stayed away all these years.  Mrs. Bentley had been right – it **_was_** heartbreaking to see.  
  
    Once he had driven toward the western edge of town, Leon turned off on an old road that led to his destination – New Life Baptist Cemetery.  Soon the iron gates to the entrance loomed before him.  They were large and ominous in their open position – as if inviting him inside the gates of a hell he’d been trying to avoid.  Even after all of this time, he still remembered the way they had looked on the day he had buried his parents.  Once he passed between them, his skin began to goose-prickle.  
  
    When he reached the back of the cemetery, Leon brought the car to a stop when he saw the two large oak trees nearly thirty yards away.  Slowly, he turned the key and shut off the engine.   _I’m finally back here… after all this time._  He felt his skin goose-prickle again as he sat there looking off toward the plot where he knew he would find them.  The conflict was still there eating away at his resolve, though.  Instinctively, his hand reached for the ignition – he didn’t want to be here; he wanted to run.  With every ounce of his being, Leon wanted to just run away and leave this part of his life behind him forever.  His hands were on the keys.  
  
    _“You don’t want to deny yourself closure.  Your past will only continue to eat away at you until you put it to rest.  Trust me… I know.”_  
  
    Ada’s words ran through his mind causing him to stay his hand.  Ever since the age of sixteen, he’d been continually running away from the brutal reality that had shaped his life.  His parents were dead.  Why had he refused to accept that?  What good was he doing himself… or their memory by refusing to come back here and let them know that he loved them?  Why had he stayed away all this time?  
  
    “Because I’m ashamed,” he heard himself whisper.  It was the answer to the unspoken question.  He’d been ashamed of the angry, vengeful man he’d become in his youth – the cop who had been bent on selfish revenge.  All the while, he had forgotten who he was and everything his parents ever taught him.  
  
    _“Love is more powerful than hate, Leon.  Remember that.”_  His mother had told him once.  
  
    “Love won’t bring you back to me,” he whispered again.  Soon new tears began to burn his eyes.  
  
    She had loved him so much as a child.  His father, too, but Leon had always been especially close to his mother. She’d been the one to sacrifice her job to stay home and raise him until he was old enough to attend school.  Everything good about him had come from her.  She’d been so full of life and love despite the fact that his parents had him later in life.  Her smile and embrace would always comfort him when he was sad.  Why?  Why had it happened to them?  Why had the world taken them away from him!?  
  
    “Why!?”  Out of anger, he punched the steering wheel.  The shear injustice of their deaths began to enrage him further, and soon he couldn’t stop himself.  “Why!?”  He punched it again.   ** _“WHY GODDAMN IT!?”_**  
  
    What was he doing?  Leon quickly grabbed the wheel with trembling fingers.  A tear ran down his cheek as he gasped for breath.  Suddenly he remembered Ada’s words.  
  
    _“Leon.  Breathe, handsome.  Slowly…”_  
  
    He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.   _My God…_ Leon thought to himself.  How had he managed to make it this far in life without letting his rage consume him?  The unfortunate truth was staring at him as he turned toward the plot that held his parents’ graves.  He’d made it because he had forgotten about them.  That had been the only way he’d known to try and remain the honorable and caring man he had rediscovered in himself back in Raccoon City.  But the wound was still there – a scar upon his heart.  How deep had he allowed it to get?  The answer was as obvious as it was frightening.  The wound had festered to a point where even thinking about his parents’ death would send him over an emotional cliff that held no bottom.  How had Ada managed to coax him into talking about it with her that night?  
  
    _Ada…_  
  
    His thoughts brought him back to her.  Would she be ashamed of him now if she saw what he’d truly become?  She **_had_** been right about him, though.  He did need closure over this… or else he feared he’d do something that there would be no coming back from.  Vengeance was an act that left no winners or losers – only blood… and death.  He began to fear that if he went back down that road again he’d find the blood he’d been looking for all those years ago.  He **_had_** to do this.  
  
    Wiping his eyes, Leon took a deep breath and opened the car door.  He reached over and pulled out both bouquets of flowers from the bag on the passenger seat and exited the vehicle.  As he walked across the car path, he turned and headed for the oak trees.  His heart was pounding hard – almost as hard as when he’d been with Ada.  He took another breath.  There would be no turning back – he had to see this through.  
  
    There at the edge of a hill beneath the tall oaks stood two grave stones.  Even though he had only seen them once on the day his parents were buried, Leon could still remember each word.  Walking through the leaf-strewn grass, he came to a stop in front of his destination.  The two stones stood side-by-side and were of the same design and color.  They seemed to match an unspoken desire for his parents to remain together as husband and wife even in death.  Gazing at the stone on the left, he silently read the words.  
  
    MICHAEL SCOTT KENNEDY – DEC 26 1932 – MAY 16 1993 – “Beloved Husband and Father”  
  
    To the right sat his mother’s.  
  
    MARY ANN J. KENNEDY – AUG 3 1937 – MAY 16 1993 – “Beloved Wife and Mother”  
  
    He stood there and stared silently as the wind blew around him.  As of now, the two of them had been dead almost as long as he’d known them.  In all that time, this was his first visit to their graves since their burial.   _Fourteen years…_  He felt his eyes tear up once more.  
  
    “Mom… Dad…” his voice was soft and broken – much like that of a child.  
  
    Taking the roses in his hands, he carefully placed the pink bouquet on the grass before his mother’s headstone and did the same for the white bouquet for his father’s.  When he stood up, he placed his hands inside the pockets of his overcoat.  What was he going to say?  He’d been trying to think of the right words on the drive here, but nothing seemed to do.  Now he was silently standing there looking down at the grave stones.  
  
   “I… I’m sorry that I’ve been away so long,” he began.  “After the accident I…”  
  
    Leon heard his voice trail off.  He’d been filled with regret – ashamed to admit that after they had died he’d turned into a completely different person; a person they would not have recognized as their son.  He then turned toward his mother’s grave.  
  
    “Mom… you were always there to comfort me when I needed you,” he said.  “I had wanted so much to feel your arms around me after that night.  I wanted to hear you tell me that everything would be alright… but you were gone.  I… I just couldn’t accept that I’d never see you again.”  
  
    A tear rolled down his cheek.  Leon made no effort to wipe it away.  This is where he needed to be right now – completely focused on them.  
  
    “Dad… you always taught me to look out for others… but I failed you.  I failed you both…”  
  
    His hand came up and brushed the bangs from his face.  
  
    “When you died… a part of me died with you – the part that both of you had wanted to grow into a good man.  I was so lost – getting into fights at school; thinking about finding those responsible for what happened.  I threw away all that you both had tried to teach me and succumbed to anger and despair.  When I was old enough, I joined the Raccoon Police Department… not out of a desire to help people, but out of a desire to find the person who killed you both.  I… I’m so sorry… Mom… Dad…”  
  
    The tears were flowing freely now, as if somewhere permission had been given to him to let loose the poison that had been corrupting him down to his very soul.  Guilt, shame, hatred – all of it began to pour out of him as he confessed himself to the two people whom had been the dearest to him.  
  
    “I failed you… even after I found my true self in Raccoon City; even after I saved Claire, Sherry, and…”  He paused for a moment as he thought of her.  “… Ada; even after I saved Ashley… I failed you.  Everything you ever taught me I discarded like trash.  I even discarded you… and my town with my absence.  
  
    “Please…” he whispered as his voice broke.  “… forgive me.”  
  
    He stood there in the silence of the cemetery as he wiped the tears from his eyes.  For fourteen years he had held onto this pain while it festered in his heart like a cancer.  Had Ada seen this when she had been with him in Paris?  Is that why she had nudged him in this direction – to seek the closure he desperately needed before it was too late?  He wasn’t sure.  All he did know was that as painful as this was, he needed to be here.  His parents deserved that much… **_He_** deserved that much.  
  
    All of a sudden, he felt warmth on the top of his head.  As he looked up into the autumn sky, he noticed that the sun had begun to peak through the grey overcast.  
  
    _“Do you see that, Leon,”_ his mother had said to him as a boy.  
  
    He’d had to squint.   _“The sun, Mommy?”_  
  
    _“Yes,”_ she had replied.   _“That is one of God’s many miracles.  No matter how hard our lives get, we can look up to the heavens and know that a divine creator loves us very much.”_  
  
    _“Does God answer prayers, Mommy?”_  
  
    _“Of course He does.”_  She had then pulled him close for a hug. _“We may not know when it will happen or if it is within His will, but know this my beautiful boy – He loves you very much, and He has a plan for you.”_  
  
    Leon put his hand up to shield himself from the sun’s glare, but he felt his lips turn into a smile for the first time since he had arrived back in Peyton.  The sun had retreated behind another cloud, but still he continued looking up.  He’d wanted a sign that his parents could forgive him for how he had led his life.  Perhaps this had been their answer?  His mother and father had always believed in God, but when they had died his own faith had been shattered like broken glass.  
  
    Turning back, he looked down at the headstones.  Then something occurred to him.  As he reached into the inside pocket of his suit, he pulled out what he’d brought along with him.  It was a picture; worn and faded with age, but on it contained an image of the three of them.  He had been eight at the time.  They had gone for a walk in the park one day to photograph birds when his father had asked a passerby to take their picture.  The smile on his face had been one full of a child’s innocence to the ways of the world.  His mother was kneeling next to him with her arms around him as his father stood behind them with a hand on his shoulder.  It was the only photograph he’d taken with him when he had left for his first shift that night in September.  It had been in his pants pocket the entire time, and he’d kept it with him ever since.  Whether he believed in God or not, **_they_** had been with him all that time when he had faced the horrors in Raccoon.  He had never been truly alone.  
  
    With that realization, Leon quickly felt the sting of his tears.  Not bitter tears of regret and shame, but genuine tears of grief… the grief he had denied himself all these years.  
  
    “I miss you both…” he whispered quietly as he gently pressed the picture against his forehead.  
  
    His face contorted with growing sadness as he tried to hide his eyes behind the worn photograph.  The tears were running down both sides of his face.  He wouldn’t allow himself to stop them.  He needed closure.  He needed… them.  
  
    Letting the picture fall from his fingers, Leon collapsed to his knees before his parents’ graves.  
  
    “I miss you both so much!”  
  
    Leon knelt there with only the large oak trees bearing witness to his sorrow… and wept.


	4. The Toll Collector

**Orange Grove, Nebraska**  
 **36 Miles Northwest of Peyton, Iowa**  
 **65 Miles North of the Raccoon City Containment Zone**  
 **April 4th 2008**  
 **20:13 CST**  
  
     
    The miles continued to creep by on the dark interstate highway that lay ahead of her.  Tonight, it was just her and the lonely road she was traveling on.  Tapping her manicured fingers on the steering wheel, her eyes narrowed at the approach of her exit – it was time for some exhilaration.  Shifting gears, she pressed down on the accelerator, and the Mercedes was quickly going over eighty-five miles per hour.  A smile crept upon her face at the sheer rush of speed.  Pressing the clutch, she shifted again, and now she was approaching one hundred as she moved into the right lane.  The exit to Orange Grove was up ahead as the lights along the freeway began to line the road.  Shifting the car into neutral and decelerating, the Mercedes glided onto the exit ramp, and with a sharp right, she was on her way towards her destination.  
  
    As she continued on, her mind wandered back to what the mechanic had told her as he lay huddled on the floor of his shop clutching his broken right arm.  His face had been a bloody mess after she had taken her liberties with the pipe wrench.  
  
    _“He likes… flirty girls… ones that appear loose and easy…  Open up the top buttons… on your blouse… and walk sexy… He’ll come to you… God, I swear!”_  
  
    Soon enough the lights to Stagla’s Bar were coming into view on the right hand side.  As she made her turn, the parking lot was filled nearly to capacity.  For a Friday night, this establishment was apparently the popular hotspot for the entire town and surrounding area.  According to the mechanic, this was where all the local singles gathered to drink, hook up, purchase drugs, hire strippers, and pretty much do whatever they wanted.  After some research, she was surprised that it hadn’t been closed down by the local police, but that wasn’t her concern.  From what she’d been able to glean from the man, this was the frequent hangout for David Yeager – a man in his mid thirties.  Born into wealth and power, his father was a successful real estate tycoon.  Yeager had both money and power – two things he had allowed to go to his head by believing he was charming… and untouchable.  
  
    Parking her Mercedes in a space near the road, Ada stepped out and straightened her black business suit jacket and her matching short skirt.  Reaching up, she undid the top two buttons of her red blouse to make sure that the tops of her breasts were plainly visible to anyone wanting to sneak a look.  When she was satisfied with her efforts, she ran her fingers through the jet-black bangs of her hair and began walking toward the entrance.  On the way, she glanced at the vehicles in the lot.  She stopped when she spotted a red 1967 Camero with white racing strips near the front of the building.  The license plate was a match – Yeager **_was_** here tonight.  
  
    The music was blaring loud when she opened the door to the smoke-laden interior.  The blue and purple neon lights seemed to add to an almost surreal atmosphere as they flickered on and off.  Out on the dance floor, couples were grinding to a hardcore rock song as strippers up on the platforms swung around poles to the beat.  Many others were sitting in booths socializing or making out.  It was a surprisingly wild scene.  She had visited other clubs around the world that were even more risqué than this place… but not many.  
  
    With a sauntering approach, Ada provocatively swayed her hips as she approached the bar.  The bartender caught sight of her and froze as did several other onlookers as she passed by them.  Pretending not to notice, she made her way toward the left side of the bar.  Sitting down on a stool by herself, she slowly crossed her legs in a deliberate motion.  
  
    She had noticed Yeager sitting behind her in a large private booth with two other men and a couple of dancers.  Turning her head as if checking out the scene, she let her gaze roll behind her until she locked eyes with the man.  He was already openly staring at her.  She smiled and gave him a wink before turning back to the bartender who had quickly made his way over to her.  
  
    “What’ll ya have, Sweetheart?”  
  
    Without so much as a pause, she answered, “Jack Daniels.”  
  
    The man reached under the counter and produced a bottle of the golden whiskey.  After setting it down on the bar, he grabbed a glass from up top and asked, “Do you want that…?”  
  
    “Straight up,” she answered.  Why was it that no matter what drinking establishment she visited they always asked her if she wanted her drinks watered down?  “And leave the bottle.”  
  
    He began to protest until she produced a fifty from her purse and laid it down on the bar counter.  “It’s been a long week, Sweetie.  This is for the bottle… and some privacy.  I’m sure you have other patrons to fawn over.”  
  
    Her smile was pleasant enough, but she made sure that her almond-colored eyes conveyed the silent message clearly enough – she did not want him hanging around her.  His smile faded as he took the bill and walked away, leaving her alone with her drink.  Taking the glass in her fingers, she tilted her head back and downed the entire contents.  
  
    It wasn’t long before she felt the presence of another person standing behind her.  Stealing a quick glance in the mirrored wall behind the bar, she saw Yeager standing there looking down at her with a smile on his face.  He had the beginnings of a beer gut forming on his belly – the nightlife that he kept seemed to be catching up with him quicker than he probably would have liked.  Other than that, he was built, and his beard was unshaven but not entirely unattractive.  
  
    “Now I can certainly appreciate a woman with a taste for good whiskey,” she heard him say.  
  
    Ada turned her head and looked at him with a smile.  “Is that so?”  She cooed.  “Well, it just so happens that I also appreciate the **_taste_** of good whiskey.”  
  
    “I’m Dave,” he said with another smile as he held out his hand.  She noticed him take a peak at her chest.  
  
    “Ada,” she replied as she gingerly took his.  
  
    “Do you mind if I keep you company, Ada?”  
  
    She glanced at the other two men sitting in the booth behind them.  Both were whispering to each other and smiling as they looked in her direction.  “Won’t your friends over there feel left out if you ditch them for me?”  
  
    “My ‘who’?”  He asked in feigned innocence as he chuckled.  “I don’t know who those guys and gals are.  Honest!”  
  
    She laughed and motioned for him to take the stool to her left.  “Would you care for a drink, Dave?  My treat.”  
  
    “Don’t mind if I do,” he replied as he placed his glass next to hers.  After she had filled both of them halfway, he lifted his glass in her direction.  “To good whiskey.”  
  
    “Cheers,” she said with another smile.  
  
    “Haven’t seen you around here before.  You new to this area?”  
  
    “I’m just passing through,” she replied.  “It’s been a long week at work and…”  She paused for a moment to gently crack her neck.  While she did, she made sure that her breasts moved with her motions.  “… I really need to blow off some steam.”  
  
     “Really?”  He asked as his eyes arched upwards in fascination.  “And what exactly does a gorgeous woman like you do for work?”  He was openly flirting with her now as his eyes ran down her body.  
  
    She smiled and ran her fingers through her hair.  “International regulations mostly.”  
  
    His smile was wide and infectious – an obvious quality he had learned in his time banging cocktail waitresses and impressionable single ladies.  “And what does an international regulator like to do to blow off steam?”  
  
    Ada lifted the glass to her lips and took another sip of her whiskey.  “First, I’m going to enjoy my drink,” she replied.  “Then I’ll see where the night takes me.”  
  
    “Spontaneous, aren’t you?  Maybe you’d like to dance?”  
  
    She turned to look at him fully and gave him one of her more charming smiles.  Eyeing him up from head to toe, she said, “Maybe… Do you think you can peak my interest?”  
  
    “Why don’t I show you?”  He replied.  
  
    After finishing their drinks, he took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.  The bass was pounding to the beat of a fast-paced hip-hop song.  She hadn’t danced like that since her college days, but fortunately she had a good memory, and the moves came back to her quickly.  The floor around them was alive with energy as the lights flashed on and off.  After a few songs had passed, the next to follow was a slow and sexy grind tune.  Moving with the rest of the couples on the floor, Ada backed into Yeager and began to grind her hips into him as she reached up and put a hand behind his neck.  His hands went to her waist and slowly worked their way up to her chest.  She could feel him straining through his pants as they moved together to the beat.  
  
    As another song began to play, she decided that now was the best time to make her move.  “You seem to know your way around a dance floor, Dave.  How about the two of us find some place a bit more… private?”  
  
    A huge smile spread across his face.  “Well, I live just down the road.  How about I fix you up with a drink at my place?”  
  
    “Mmmm, that sounds…” she slowly slid her hands down to his crotch and grasped him through his jeans.  “… delicious.  Lead the way.”  
  
    It was almost a surprise that it hadn’t required any further convincing on her part, but the one thing that she had never underestimated was the effect that she had on men.  Following his red Camero, he turned down a long private drive about three miles outside of town.  His residence was a large, two story ranch-style home most likely paid for with his father’s money.  Despite that however, it did hold a certain class that was obviously lacking in its owner.  
  
    “What do you think?”  He asked as he escorted her to the front door.  
  
    “It’s beautiful.”  She replied and then asked, “Do you live here alone?”  
  
    “As a matter of fact, I do.”  He unlocked the door and held it open for her.  “Let me see about getting you that drink.”  
  
    “That’s sweet of you, Dave.  You’re quite the gentleman.”  
  
    He led the way into the sizeable living room that contained two large couches, an entertainment center, and a mini-bar.  It was certainly a single man’s bachelor pad.  As Yeager walked to the mini-bar talking about himself, Ada quickly removed the Beretta from her purse and stashed it in the back waistband of her skirt.  
  
    “Anyway, did you like my car?”  He asked over his shoulder as he poured her a drink.  “That was a sixteenth birthday present from my parents.  I’ve never loved a vehicle more than that one.”  
  
    “You do have an eye for beautiful things,” she replied.  
  
    He turned and walked toward her with the same smile on his face.  “I certainly do.  Speaking of beautiful things, I was quite lucky to meet you tonight, Ada.”  
  
    “Oh luck had nothing to do with it, David,” she replied coolly as her eyes narrowed.  “It so happens that **_I_** was the one waiting for **_you_**.”  
  
    He stopped in front of her with a confused look on his face.  “Wait… what?  I don’t understand…”  
  
    “I think its time we skipped the foreplay, Love,” she said as she placed her arms around his neck.  
  
    With that, Ada quickly landed a knee into the man’s genitals causing him to gasp and double over in pain.  Immediately she grabbed the Beretta from behind her back and smashed the barrel into his nose.  A scream pierced the room as he dropped the drink and fell to his knees in pain.  
  
    ** _“YOU BITCH!”_**  He yelled as his hands went to his bleeding face.  “You broke my fucking nose!”  
  
    “Now that’s not the kind of dirty talk I like to hear before getting into the sack, David.  You’d be wise to shut your mouth and stay down, or I promise you I’ll break something more painful,” she said as she finished attaching the silencer and aimed the pistol at his face.  
  
    He looked up at her with confusion and anger spreading across his features.  “Who the hell are you!?  Don’t you know who I am!?”  
  
    “Of course I do.  Your name is David Richard Yeager.  You were born on February 3rd 1976 to Richard Earl Yeager and Elizabeth Jessica Eagerly.  You graduated from Orange Grove High School in 1995 and were awarded a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1999.  Shall I continue?”  
  
    He knelt there on the floor with widened eyes of shock as he stared at her.  She now had his full attention.  “I… I don’t understand… Why?”  
  
    “I’ll ask the questions, David,” Ada replied in a cold voice.  “But first, I want to talk with you about a party night of yours a long time ago – the night of May 16th 1993.”  
  
    “What?  What are you talking about?”  
  
    “ ** _You_** were driving that beautiful red Camero of yours when you struck a white Cavalier off of Highway 77 as you were driving north from Raccoon City – do you remember that night?”  
  
    He was silent for a moment and then stole a quick glance at the floor before returning his attention back to her.  She had read his eyes clearly enough… he knew full well what she was talking about.  
  
   “Look, Ada…”  His voice had lost all of its cockiness now.  “I don’t know what this is about, but if its money you want…”  
  
    “Money?”  She asked incredulously.  “Is that why you think I’m here – to blackmail you?  No, David.  I’m here tonight, because I wanted to finally meet you in person after all these months.  I’ll admit that it took a great deal of my time to track you down.  The paint samples from your vehicle had been difficult to obtain.  But with a little determination, I was able to locate the mechanic you used to repair your car without alerting the authorities.  He was quite the chatterbox once I convinced him it was in his best interests to cooperate with me.”  
  
    His eyes went wide.  “Johnny… Brenner?  How…  How did you…”  
  
    “I have my ways,” she replied with a coy smile.  “He told me about how you brought your car to him the next day and paid a large sum of cash to have it fixed quietly.  It seems that Daddy’s money can buy a lot of things, can’t it?  People, their silence… even covering up two counts of manslaughter.”  
  
    “Manslaughter?  What are you a fucking cop or something?”  
  
    A sudden flash of anger enveloped her by his callous remark, and she responded in kind.  Smashing the pistol into his face again, Yeager fell to the floor in a bloody sobbing heap.  The coward was just like all the other rich pricks that she had been acquainted with during her life – all cock and no spine.  Throw money into the mix, and they soon felt untouchable by society’s norms.  How many times had she witnessed that happen in her line of work?  If she wasn’t working for those types of men and women, she was being paid to kill others just like them.  However, tonight was an exception.  There was no money involved here; no mission to complete.  This was simply something **_she_** had to do.    
  
    “You should really watch that mouth of yours,” Ada cooed.  “It’s going to get you into trouble.”  
  
    “Just stop, okay?”  He moaned.  “I’ll give you whatever you want just please… don’t hurt me.”  
  
    She looked down at him and smiled.  “Tell you what, David – you tell me who was with you that night, and I promise I won’t harm another hair on your head.  How does that sound?”  
  
    “Okay… okay… Look… I… it was an accident, alright?  I didn’t mean for it to happen… I…”  
  
    “David,” she interrupted, “I’m not interested in your excuses or your explanations.  I simply want the names of the people who were with you.  That’s all.”  
  
    He looked up at her with fear in his eyes.  It was a look she had seen many times before, and she had never once let it move her.  In her line of work she was many things – a spy, a killer… and a woman experienced in many forms of interrogation and torture.  There had never been a time when she had failed to extract information from a mark.  The mechanic she had tortured had been a necessity to bring her closer to her objective – she needed the name of the driver of that red Camero.  Now that she had it, things were quickly beginning to turn personal.  While she would have rather broken every bone in Yeager’s body, with great restraint she held herself back knowing that a deft touch was more profitable for her to obtain the additional names that she wanted.  
  
    “I… I was with one other person.  His name is Ronnie Atkinson.  He was with me at the bar tonight.  I… I swear that’s it!”  
  
    Another smile crossed her lips.  “See?  That wasn’t so hard, was it?  Now there is one last thing you’re going to do before I leave – you’re going to call Mr. Atkinson and have him meet you here.”  
  
    “How am I…?”  
  
   “You’re a cocky man.  Tell him that you’re having a private party with strippers – I don’t care how you do it, but get him here.  Oh, and one more thing – if you try anything clever, well…”  She pointed the gun to his knees.  “I promise you that I know how to make men scream.”  
  
    Yeager meekly complied and began dialing on his cell phone.  Ada made sure her eyes never wavered from his.  The eyes were the windows to the soul, and she had much experience in reading people and their reactions.  To his credit, Yeager had managed to convince Atkinson to come to his place without alerting him to her presence.  
  
    “Now slide your phone across the floor,” she said after he had finished the call.  
  
    “If you’re not a cop then why are you doing this?”  Yeager asked as he did what she had ordered.  
  
    “Why?”  She asked as her eyes narrowed.  “It’s really quite simple.  You see the people you killed that night during your binge of drugs and booze happened to be the parents of a very good friend of mine.  He isn’t a killer… but I am.”  
  
    With that, she raised the pistol and pulled the trigger.  The Beretta sneezed, and a red hole appeared in Yeager’s forehead as the back of his skull exploded onto the floor.  She’d come equipped with hollow point rounds – ones that made a real mess in a person’s body.  Yeager fell backwards, and just as quickly a pool of blood began forming under his head.  His eyes were wide and lifeless as his empty gaze stared at the ceiling.  
  
    “Sleep tight, David.”  Ada said coolly as she casually stepped over his body and walked toward the front door.  “You won’t be alone for much longer.”  
  
    After retrieving a few things she had brought with her from the trunk of the car, Ada sat down on the couch in the living room and waited.  The last man responsible for the deaths of Leon’s parents would be here shortly, and she wanted to be prepared.  Her face continued to maintain that cool detachment she was used to as she watched the minutes pass by on the nearby wall clock.  The only things keeping her company was the silence of the room and Yeager’s corpse.  This certainly hadn’t been the first time she’d taken the life of a target she’d been after, but it was the first time in a long while that she had done so for personal reasons – at least since the time of her very first kill.   _I was just sixteen at the time…  Sixteen-years-old..._  
  
    Ada closed her eyes and sighed.  She didn’t want to think about that – not now and certainly not here.  Letting her mind wander, soon thoughts of Leon began to consume her.  She had made no attempt to contact him after that beautiful night the two of them had shared in Paris those many months ago.  He had been so nervous initially – something she found quite… adorable.  But when he finally grew comfortable he had turned out to be quite a gentle and thorough lover.  As difficult as the self-imposed separation had been, part of her was glad that she had kept her distance from him.  The reason was simple as it was practical – she didn’t want Leon to know what her intentions were.  
  
    When he had confessed to her his reasons for joining the Raccoon Police Department, her heart had broken for him.  The sheer injustice concerning the loss of parents had a lasting effect on him as a teenager which had followed him all the way to adulthood.  She could hear it in his voice of how much he had loved them; how their loss had shaken him to his very core, causing him to question everything in his life.  Ever since she had met him, he had always struck her as a compassionate and caring individual with a strong moral compass and plenty of nobility to spare.  In fact, she had felt that he had too much, and that one day it would get him killed.  
  
    In the years since Raccoon City, she had researched his background in an effort to gain more insight on the man that he was.  Initially she had told herself that it was simply research to understand his motivations and habits, but she also couldn’t deny that there were… other reasons why she had.  He had intrigued her, and that wasn’t something that was easy to do – especially for a man.  
  
    It was during her research that she had discovered his parents had died in a car accident, but she had no idea how much of an impact it had on his life.  It had consumed him to a point where he had been prepared to go to extreme lengths to seek revenge against those who took them from him.  That was until the Raccoon City incident had altered his course.  In a way she was almost grateful that the disaster had happened in order to help him rediscover who he truly was – a good and decent man; a defender of people.  Those were the qualities that she truly liked about him.  He wasn’t an assassin or a murderer… not like her.  
  
    The sounds of a car pulling up the drive brought Ada’s attention back to the present.  Standing up, she casually placed the pistol into the back of her skirt and walked toward the door.  A trio of knocks greeted her from the man she’d been waiting for.  
  
    Opening the door, she smiled and provocatively leaned against the entrance.  “Hello,” she cooed.  “You must be Ronnie.  Dave said you’d be stopping by.”  
  
    The blonde-haired man’s eyes widened when he first saw her before they traveled down to her breasts.  He appeared to be of the same size as Yeager with a widow peak forming in his hair.  “Holy… You’re that woman from Stagla’s bar, right?  The one who left with Dave?”  
  
    “I’m Ada,” she said in a seductive voice as she grabbed his wrists and pulled him inside.  “Come on in.  Dave’s waiting for us.”  
  
    “Sounds good to me, baby!”  He replied with a smile as he led the way.  
  
    Ada smiled as she positioned herself behind him.  In just a few seconds, he’d be right where she wanted him.  
  
    “Dave!”  He called out as he walked towards the living room.  “I don’t know how you got this girl back here, but damn I…”  
  
    His voice trailed off as his eyes spotted Yeager’s dead body lying in a pool of blood.  Ada then sprung the trap.  Pulling out the silenced Beretta, she moved behind him and landed a sharp kick to the back of his knee.  Atkinson let out a loud yelp of pain as he fell to his knees.  Immediately, she was standing to his right side and held the gun to his temple.  
  
    For so many years she’d engaged in this type of work.  The movements were as natural to her as breathing.  Looking down, she saw Atkinson pleading for his life, but she was always able to remove herself emotionally during these situations.  Her detachment was what made her so valuable in her field and had aided her in many of her hit missions.  Whether her current actions were justice for Leon’s parents, a message to rich criminals that their money couldn’t protect them forever, or just good old-fashioned murder – none of it mattered.  
  
    Ada felt herself smile as she looked down at the man.  “Good night, Ronnie.”  
  
    The pistol sneezed a second time, and Atkinson was now lying on the floor with Yeager.  Casually removing the silencer from the Beretta, she bent down and placed the weapon into the man’s right hand, making this ugly affair look like a murder-suicide.  
  
    Taking the two five gallon containers of gasoline that she had brought in from her car, Ada began pouring them all over the bodies, the couches, and across the entire living room.  As she walked toward the front door, she clicked open a Zippo lighter and lit the flame.  Tossing it toward the gas-soaked floor, it immediately caught fire.  
  
    Back in her car, she sat and watched as the smoke that was bellowing from the residence windows was replaced by the orange and yellow flicker of flames.  Quickly they began to engulf the entire home in the pyre.  Soon the questions began to gnaw at her – why had she done it?  This had nothing to do with her.  So why then was she getting involved in something that was none of her concern?  This wasn’t a job; she hadn’t been paid to kill those men.  So why?  
  
    Turning the key to the ignition, she stole another glace as her mind focused on him.    
  
    _Leon..._  
  
    She had been fighting with herself all these years concerning her feelings for the man – from Raccoon City until now.  In her line of work, it was a necessity to remain detached from emotional bonds, but for some reason she couldn’t deny the connection that the two of them shared – not after all they had been through together.  
  
    After everything that had transpired in Paris, there was one memory of that night that had stood out from all of the others.  It was the way he had held her face and looked at her after they had finished on the table.  That genuine look of affection in his eyes had touched her in ways she had never believed possible.  It was as if he was looking at **_her_**.  Not as an asset, a one night stand, or a tool to be used until it no longer served a purpose… but as a woman – a woman he cared for.  A shiver washed over her when she realized the implications; a prospect that was both exciting and terrifying at the same time… and completely dangerous.  It was something that had taken root in Raccoon City almost ten years ago and continued to grow even to this day.  She had tried her best to fight it over the years, but there was no question any longer – she had fallen for him.   ** _That_** had been the ultimate reason why she had gone to him in Paris.  As dangerous as that rendezvous was when it came to their two worlds, it had been worth it in the end… because he had felt the same way about her, too.  With that, a single tear rolled down her cheek.  
  
    As her gaze returned to the dancing flames before her, Ada knew that if Leon found out what she had just done, he’d be furious with her.  She would need to make sure that she covered her tracks well so that this little adventure couldn’t be traced back to her.  Still, in the end she was glad that she had acted on this information before he could possibly think about it again.  Despite the fact that he had sworn that he would never deviate from his true self again, she wasn’t going to take the risk of his honor becoming corrupted by vengeance.  She liked the man just the way he was and didn’t want to see him fall like she had.  The desire for revenge was something she knew quite intimately, and it always ended in blood… just like her first kill.  The answer was now clear to her why she had done it.  
  
    “I’m sorry, Leon,” she said with a gentle sigh.  “But I won’t let you become like me.”  
  
    With that, Ada put her car into gear and, as was so often the case, disappeared into the darkness of the night.  
 

  
   
 **_*** THE END ***_**

    
 _Author’s Note:_  
  
Thank you for reading this Aeon fan fiction story.  I truly hope that you enjoyed this piece.  Please take a moment to leave a comment to let me know if it was good, bad, entertaining, or boring.  All feedback is used to make my future stories that much better.


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